Category: Illinois News

Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs Champions Plan To Create Investment Pool For Nonprofit Organizations – RiverBender (Alton)

If Frerichs’ plan becomes law, the nonprofit investment pool would be structured in the same way as the Illinois Public Treasurer’s Investment Pool – also known as the Illinois Funds. The Illinois Funds allows units of government to invest their funds safely while benefiting from the economies of scale available through a pooled investment fund portfolio that exceeds $19 billion. The pool invests in liquid, high-quality short-term investments.

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After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans – Capitol News IL

The commission found the original plans lacked sufficient evidence that they would benefit low-income and traditionally disadvantaged communities – a requirement of CEJA – and that the plans didn’t demonstrate how the utilities would keep monthly bills affordable. Both ComEd and Ameran Illinois explicitly responded to those criticisms in their revised filings, including more in-depth calculations that suggest most of the benefits of grid modernization and clean energy will go toward historically disadvantaged and low-income communities.

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New legislation could give county clerks a taxpayer-funded raise – Center Square

The Illinois Association of County Clerks and Recorders is a proponent of Senate Bill 2131, which says clerks have to be paid at least 80 percent of what the state’s attorney in that county is paid and that the pay is to mostly come from state taxpayer funds. “[Under the proposed law] 80 percent of the salary would be reimbursed [by the state] and right now the state does that for public defenders, state’s attorneys, the assessor and the sheriff,” said McDonough County Clerk Gretchen DeJaynes.

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Plan to rebuild Stateville, Logan prisons brings mixed reaction – Center Square

State Sen. Terri Bryant said the governor can’t be trusted that the site closures would be temporary. “The Governor previously used the line of temporary closures when it came to both the DuQuion and Dixon Springs Structured Impact Programs in order to avoid the closure process laid out under the State Facilities Closure Act,” Bryant said. “To this day, neither site has been reopened despite line items within the budget.”

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Lawmaker pushes tax break for those ‘fleeing’ teaching, medical restrictions – Jacksonville Journal-Courier*

House Bill 5152 would give a $500 tax credit to anyone who moves to Illinois to teach, get or provide health care, including abortion and gender-affirming care, from states with more restrictive laws regarding access to lawful health care. “I’m not saying you have to come here and provide abortion care or provide gender-affirming care, because I am just as concerned about the emergency room physician who doesn’t want to have to watch a patient die,” State Rep. Kelly Cassidy said.

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Gov. Pritzker signs Executive Order to promote equity in gene and cell therapy treatment access – WAND (Decatur)

The executive order tasks the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services with leading the state’s effort to establish payment models and financial structures that support access to new sickle cell disease treatments and other new high cost drugs and treatment within the Illinois Medicaid program, and creates the Advisory Council on Financing and Access to Sickle Cell Disease Treatment and Other High-Cost Drugs and Treatment.

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Commentary: What suburban businesses, residents need to know about governor’s budget – Daily Herald*

Matt Paprocki, of the Illinois Policy Institute: “Illinois’ modest improvements to its fiscal health was buoyed by temporary federal aid that also grew spending to unprecedented levels. The state budget has increased by nearly $13 billion since Pritzker took office. Now that it’s run out, Pritzker’s balancing the budget on the backs of recovering suburban businesses and offering ‘tax relief’ by cutting funding sources for local governments.”

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Muslim community leaders urge Illinois voters to protest Biden by writing in ‘Gaza’ on primary ballot – Chicago Sun-Times

The push comes after similar efforts in Michigan and Minnesota shook Biden’s reelection campaign, with more than 150,000 voters choosing to vote “uncommitted” over the president in those states’ primaries. “Uncommitted” isn’t a ballot option in Illinois, so groups are instead calling voters to either leave the presidential ticket blank or write in “Gaza.” The Chicago area is home to the largest Palestinian population in the U.S.

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Illinois farmers facing legislative concerns – Sioux County Radio

Farm Bureau president and Ogle County farmer Brian Duncan tells Brownfield they’re watching several proposals closely. “Illinois adopting California emission standards; allowing municipalities to reach out and place restrictions on crop protection products is one we’re going to be talking about. … Certainly, we don’t want to go down the California prop 12 road.”

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‘We Refuse To Be Bullied’: Rural Officials Throw Wrench In China-Tied Company’s Plans To Build Battery Plant – Daily Caller

The company also has plans to build a subsidized facility in Manteno. The company has drawn the attention of the House Select Committee on the CCP and prompted legislation to be introduced on Capitol Hill. Gotion Inc.’s plans have become an animating issue in the township’s local politics, with many locals expressing their discontent with the company’s presence because of its ties to China and the CCP by way of Gotion High-Tech.

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Column: Demographics key to state’s financial, educational future – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “Plenty of downsides threaten its opportunities, including the state’s heavy long-term debt, tough competition for its manufacturers, and population issues that pose problems for the future of higher education. Those are some of the conclusions in a State of Illinois Forecast Report done by Moody’s Analytics and recently released by the Illinois Commission on Economic Forecasting & Accountability. … ‘Weak demographic trends and deep-rooted fiscal problems, such as mounting pension obligations and a shrinking tax base, represent the biggest hurdles to the longer-term outlook,’ the report states.”

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Diversity, judicial appointments at issue in 1st District Supreme Court race – Capitol News Illinois

The race for one of the seven Illinois Supreme Court seats pits an appointed incumbent against a second-time candidate as the two Democrats vie for their party’s nomination next week. Because no Republican has filed to run for the Cook County-based seat, it’s more than likely that Tuesday’s contest determines the ultimate winner of November’s election too.

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Sangamon County on pace for most juveniles charged with a crime since 2017 – WICS (Springfield)

In 2023, 111 juveniles were charged with a crime in Sangamon County. This year, as of the middle of March, 36 juveniles have already been charged. “Anecdotally, it looks to me when I look at individual cases, that we have more violent behavior by juveniles, we have more brazen juveniles carrying firearms, willing to discharge firearms committing armed robberies,” Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said.

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Increased spending, growing demands, fund transfers part of Illinois’ budget process – Center Square

State Rep. Curtis Tarver was critical of other fund transfer powers Gov. JB Pritzker has been granted in prior budget years. He noted the hundreds of millions of tax dollars being used for non-citizens and union contracts. “Let it not be just for a union contract, let it not just be for asylum seekers, if you’re going to actually have that type of flexibility, let it be for all the people of Illinois who have very specific and unique needs,” Tarver said.

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Illinois Republican congressional candidates fight for favor of Trump supporters – FOX News

“(Rep. Mike) Bost is a popular incumbent, but he’s running in a time and place where disdain for government is white-hot. Establishment Republicans are angry their man has to face an intraparty challenge, which is the attitude (challenger Darren) Bailey argues needs to be dislodged. But it will be up to voters to decide whether adaptability and hard work are enough to overcome incumbency, tenure and an endorsement from the nation’s Republican leader.”

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Pritzker agency heads questioned on $1.1 billion revenue proposals – Capitol News IL

One proposal would generate $101 million by capping Illinois’ so-called “retailers discount.” Under state law, retailers receive a discount of 1.75 percent of the sales tax they collect as reimbursement for their efforts to collect them. The governor’s change would cap the amount claimed at $1,000 per month. “Contrary to claims, this proposal does not just target large retail stores but would impact retailers of all sizes, from independent grocers to the corner hardware store,” Illinois Retail Merchants Association President and CEO Rob Karr said.

 

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Illinois’ High Court Reports ‘Breathtaking’ Rise in Appeals Following Elimination of Cash Bail – WTTW (Chicago)

Within a decade-long period from 2014 through 2023, there were a total of 171 appeals from bail orders. In the first five months after the pretrial provisions of the SAFE-T Act went into effect — from Sept. 18 to Feb. 18 — there were 2,003 appeals filed from detention orders. “This dramatic increase in appeals has been crippling to our appellate courts,” Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Jane said.

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Deadline approaching to challenge Illinois broadband map – Center Square

Illinois was awarded just over $1 billion in broadband equity program funds from federal taxpayers, to be spent over the next five years, from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to connect unserved and under-served locations to quality, affordable broadband service. Illinois is one of 19 states to receive over $1 billion.

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Freedom Caucuses Shaking Up How Business Is Done in 11 States – Daily Signal

State Freedom Caucus Network President Andy Roth explained, “Because of the COVID stuff, school choice, there are so many issues that impact people and their families at the state level, and no attention was paid on them. So in 2019, we launched the network. The Georgia Freedom Caucus was the first one. Then we went to South Carolina, South Dakota, Illinois, on and on. And now we have 11 of them.”

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Supplemental spending: How Illinois could spend some of its $1.6B budget surplus – State Journal-Register

Gov. JB Pritzker signed the $50.4 billion budget in June 2023, the largest in state history. Now, the Democratic governor is requesting the General Assembly approve legislation allowing for $1.56 billion in additional spending. Most of the General Fund spending would go toward the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, receiving $430 million, and $346.8 million to the state Department of Human Services. Together, those departments will receive just less than half of the total proposed supplemental package. IDHS has been the lead state agency in providing shelter and services provided to the 36,000-plus asylum seekers in Chicago.

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Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration says insurance bill is an effort to balance needs of companies, consumers – Chicago Tribune*

Pritzker and his legislative allies are aiming to overhaul a broad range of insurance companies’ practices. Among other things, the bill would ban so-called step therapy, in which insurers require patients to try a different, often cheaper, alternative before treatment recommended by doctors. It also would ban prior authorization, when patients sometimes have to get permission from insurance companies before receiving treatment, for in-patient mental health care.

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Court denies transfer to Sangamon County in constitutional challenge to firearm liability law, finds fixed venue violates due process – Madison-St. Clair Record

House Bill 3062 was passed by the 103rd General Assembly and signed into law June 6. The law strips circuit courts in 100 of Illinois’ 102 counties of their power to preside over constitutional challenges. Madison County Associate Judge Ronald J. Foster Jr. wrote March 4, “Sangamon County is not more important than any other county in this state. The fact that it is the seat of state government is ultimately irrelevant. Based on the record before the court, the General Assembly will not be called as witnesses. The Attorney General is responsible for representing the state and its officers

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Coalition pushes legislation to advance carbon capture in Illinois – Center Square

Senate Bill 3311 and House Bill 569, would create the Climate and Landowner Protection Act. During a news conference in Springfield, the group claimed that carbon capture and storage projects will help Illinois reach its clean energy goals. However, scientist Sallie Greenberg confirmed that the separation of other chemicals from the emitted carbon actually uses energy.

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House passes bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S., sending it to the Senate – NBC News

Co-authors U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, of Illinois, and U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, of Wisconsin, praised the passage of the bill in a joint statement, saying they’ll work with the Senate to advance it as well. “What we’re after is a separation from TikTok from its parent company, ByteDance, and by extension CCP,” the bill’s author, Gallagher said. (with video of Krishnamoorthi)

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Change to immigrant health care programs in Illinois will cause up to 6,000 to lose benefits – Chicago Tribune/MSN

The health care programs became a major sticking point in budget negotiations last year. In his budget proposal a year ago, Gov. JB Pritzker pitched $220 million for the program. But as projected costs rose to $1.1 billion, he ended up striking a deal that set aside $550 million for the benefits. In addition to proposing $440 million from the state’s general revenue fund for the programs in the coming year, Pritzker also proposed that an additional outlay of nearly $200 million could be allocated toward the two programs through other revenue streams.

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Cities across the U.S. experiencing a measles outbreak – NewsNation

Several cases of measles were reported at a migrant shelter in Chicago in the last few days, with health officials warning it could lead to a larger outbreak as many asylum seekers are unvaccinated. The first case marked the first occurrence in five years in Chicago, the health department said. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 17 states have reported 45 measles cases this year so far. There were 58 cases in the entire year in 2023.

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Many Illinois Companies Will Soon Be Required to List Pay Scales, Benefits in Job Postings – WTTW (Chicago)

Illinois’ law mandates that starting in 2025, companies with 15 or more employees provide the pay scale and benefits for specific job postings. The law also sets requirements for sharing openings within companies, with a mandate that employers have to “make known all opportunities for promotion to all current employees” within 14 days of publicly posting the job.

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Legislators push for property tax relief as state sees higher revenues – Center Square

“While there is continued growth in revenue, in taxes paid to the state of Illinois, it’s a decrease compared to where other economies are in surrounding states,” said state Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer. “Illinois has gone from about $18.5 billion in revenue from income tax to about $33 billion. We are looking at almost doubling our income tax revenue over the last decade.”

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Wirepoints disputes poll that favors spending more on education – Center Square

“We have had the biggest increase in spending in the country over the last 15 years,” said Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski. “No other state has increased spending like we have since 2007, and yet we see no benefits, there’s no accountability, there’s no improvement in reading or math, so it’s really money that is just being thrown into a black hole.”

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Thousands of non-citizens to be moved off state taxpayer-subsidized health care – Center Square

“They are going to be reviewing current members of the migrant health care programs, both 65 and over and as we heard today from 42 to 64, to find out which of those people may actually qualify for either free market health care services, Obamacare if you will, or if they don’t they may be eligible for either Medicare or Medicaid based on their age,” state Sen. DeWitte said. The move could save up to $14 million in state tax dollars. Even more would be saved if the move later includes those over the age of 42.

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With recession fears subsiding, new state economic forecast expects ‘firm but steady growth’ – Capitol News IL

The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability’s revised revenue estimates expect the current fiscal year to end with $52.6 billion in revenue, or about $2 billion ahead of what lawmakers budgeted for last May. “So looking into fiscal year 25, what are we seeing? There is some concern going forward that the economy, or not necessarily the economy, but the revenues are slowing down,” COGFA revenue manager Eric Noggle said.

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The Illinois Education Association releases its sixth annual IEA State of Education report – WAND (Decatur)

“The data clearly show us Illinoisans have a growing support for public education, the education support staff (ESPs) and teachers who do that work,” Normington Petts pollster Jill Normington said. “We’ve been doing this poll for six years now, and because of that, we have some great comparables and the ability to see trends. This year we saw increased support in nearly every area of our poll from teacher pensions to funding for public schools.”

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Illinois businesses brace for potential tax increase in Pritzker’s budget plan – Center Square

The governor’s proposed budget extends the cap on business net operating losses, but increases the cap to $500,000. His office estimates the “revenue adjustment” will raise $526 million. “Whether you’re not calling it a tax [hike], in implementation it ends up being one,” Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Lou Sandoval said. “It’s just a way of taxing businesses.”

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IL Supreme Court: Hockey club that rents ice arena can be sued under IL human rights law for ‘banishing’ teen diagnosed with depression – Cook County Record

Private organizations could be on the hook for possible payouts under lawsuits brought under an Illinois human rights law, after the Illinois Supreme Court declared lawsuits over discrimination of access can apply to private membership-based organizations if they rent “places of public accommodation.” The decision, however, leaves open questions concerning how an expansive interpretation of that reasoning might conflict with key constitutional liberties.

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Illinois ‘junk’ fee legislation calling for price transparency, from airline or concert tickets to rent – Chicago Sun-Times

The goal is to prevent the fees — sometimes called convenience or processing fees — from popping up only when a customer is ready to check out and make it easier for consumers to compare prices while shopping. State Rep. Bob Morgan said businesses would still be free to charge whatever fee they need to — as long as they breakdown the total cost, including fees, for consumers in advance.

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State Sen. Chapin Rose: State budget choices come with consequences – Champaign News-Gazette

“Taxes will go up for every family earning less than $250,000 (individuals) and $500,000 (joint filers) a year — in the 51st Illinois Senate District, that is just about everyone. You heard that right. On page 65 of the budget, the governor plans to raise personal income taxes by $93 million next year, including taxes on the working poor. In total, there are $1 billion worth of tax increases in the governor’s budget.”

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Sen. Turner pushes back on taxes and immigrant healthcare in role on budget negotiation team – NPR Illinois

The governor’s proposed budget calls for $182 million to support the influx of asylum seekers. But state Sen. Sally Turner, a member of the Senate Republicans’ Budget Negotiation Team, suspects the total cost will be much higher, but isn’t clear where that money could be hidden. “Just show us where that is in the budget so we can understand what your ideas are and where you are coming from and what areas within the different agencies that you are taking the money from,” she said.

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How the suburbs are addressing calls to take a stance on Gaza – Daily Herald*

Suburban village boards and city councils continue to face calls to pass resolutions seeking a cease-fire in Gaza, but so far only Bolingbrook has shown any interest in weighing in on Middle East politics – and only then as part of a broader resolution condemning violence against civilians there as well as in Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Lebanon and Yemen.

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Springfield woman admits to defrauding Illinois Police Heritage Fund of $79,000 – WICS (Springfield)

LeAnn Shirley, 57, admitted that, in 2019 when she was the Illinois State Police Heritage Foundation treasurer, she devised a scheme to defraud the Foundation by causing approximately $79,000 to be wired from a Foundation bank account in Illinois to an account in Vermont. The Illinois State Police Heritage Foundation is a charity under Internal Revenue Service Section 501(c)(3) committed to preserving the history of the Illinois State Police.

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Nearly all Illinois public universities report higher costs, less money to operate – Illinois Policy

A 2009 budget summary shows just over 7 cents of each higher education dollar from state general funds went to pay for faculty pensions rather than supporting instructors and students in classrooms. Starting in fiscal year 2024, those pension payments to the State Universities Retirement System consumed 43 cents of every higher education dollar from state general funds. Eleven of Illinois’ 12 public universities have been forced to raise the price of tuition and fees during the past 15 years.

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Pritzker’s $52.7B budget plan falls short in key areas, allies say – WBBM (Chicago)

State Rep. Will Davis, said the governor should be doing more to help minority-owned companies get state contracts. “If we can’t get our IDOT, capital development board, tollway, to just be better at making sure that … they give those opportunities to businesses in those spaces, I mean we’re just continually fighting an uphill battle,” he said. “When we talk about the budget document, that is the government’s blueprint. We heard [Pritzker] say a lot of things that he wants to do for the Black community, the migrant community, we heard him say that. But when it comes to some

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Ban On Disguised Vapes Heads To Full Illinois Senate – Patch Lake Forest

The amendment would forbid manufacturers and retailers of electronic cigarettes from marketing them in a way that “is likely to cause a parent, legal guardian, teacher, or other adult to mistake the electronic cigarette for a product that is not a tobacco product.” School officials have reported finding vaping devices on school property that are designed to look like highlighters, erasers and pencil sharpeners, according to state Sen. Julie Morrison.

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Real or fake? Illinois students learning the dangers of social media ahead of election – State Journal-Register (Springfield)/Yahoo

It’s year two of a first-in-the-nation law requiring all Illinois public high schools to teach media literacy, teaching students how to access information; evaluate the source’s accuracy; making their own media messages; assessing how media messages trigger emotions and behavior; and social responsibility. According to the Pew Research Center, 44 percent of U.S. adults ages 18-29 routinely rely on Tik Tok for news — by far the highest consumption of any age demographic.

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Column: Is Urbana council the sole obstacle to peace in Middle East? – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “It was all too much for former Urbana Alderwoman Esther Patt, who charged that the city’s attention is being distracted by a problem the city can’t fix when it needs ‘to do other things.’ Patt pointed out that the council is being asked to bring peace between two warring parties. ‘While you’re at it, when are you going to cure cancer?’ she asked.”

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Manufacturers’ group pushes back against mandating EVs – Center Square

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers said federal and state governments are fast tracking policies to limit consumer choice and end the availability of new gas cars. “The fact that consumers in a couple years are literally going to be robbed of their ability to choose the cars that are most popular and most meet their needs, that is not something that people are happy about,” AFPM President and CEO Chet Thompson said.

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Illinois is working on incentive deal with Rivian – Crain’s*

Illinois is negotiating an incentive deal with Rivian in connection with the electric-vehicle maker’s decision to launch production of a new model in Illinois. Rivian made a surprise announcement March 7 that its new SUV, the R2, would be manufactured at its downstate Normal plant and it was pausing construction of a new factory near Atlanta. “The elements of an economic development package are still being finalized…. Once they are finalized, we will update the public on the details of the incentive package.” The bet Pritzker is making is that Rivian will follow Tesla’s path, making it through the transition

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Durbin thwarts GOP effort to pass bill detaining illegal immigrants charged with violent crime – FOX News

The bill would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to take into custody illegal immigrants who are arrested and charged with causing the death or serious injury of another. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said the bill would detain victims of trafficking or domestic abuse who were charged with crimes. According to him, the bill would “deprive immigrants of the due process that everyone is afforded.”

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Rich Miller: Eliminating grocery tax a popular proposal – Illinois Times

“The tax cut is easy to explain and is therefore receiving a lot of news media coverage. … And the more attention this $325 million tax cut receives, the less time reporters will have to flesh out the governor’s fast move on the income tax. Instead of allowing the standard income tax exemption to rise to its previously inflation-tied statutory levels after freezing it for a year, the governor proposed saving the budget some money by not giving people their fully entitled exemption this year. That technically qualifies as a tax hike, but is not so easy to explain.”

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Illinois students in tutoring program largely met goals in reading and math, researchers say – Chicago Tribune*

The Illinois State Board of Education used federal COVID-19 relief funds to match about 1,900 students with about 700 tutors in 59 school districts throughout the state during the 2022-23 academic year. Last March, the state voted to extend the program to the 2023-24 year with the remaining relief funds, expanding to serve roughly 2,400 students in 64 districts.

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Krishnamoorthi leads charge challenging TikTok, which could lead to a ban – FOX32 (Chicago)

“It’s not the platform, it’s not the dance videos or the bad lip sync that’s the concern. The concern is the ownership of TikTok, namely by ByteDance,” said U.S. Rep Raja Krishnamoorthi. “The reason is that ByteDance is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, and so we can’t have a situation where the CCP has access to hundreds of millions of Americans’ data and that they have an ability to manipulate the algorithm in a way that could really harm America.”

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Illinois’ governor praises Biden’s State of the Union Address – WMBD (Peoria)

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker praised the president’s vision for the country’s future – one that respects individual freedoms, working families, America’s allies, and the fundamental values that built this country. “The message is clear – together we can continue the historic progress of the last four years and create a future that lifts all communities and leaves no one behind,” Pritzker said.

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Clerks concerned about taxpayer cost, confidence around ranked choice voting – Center Square

“Every time that we add a multiple page ballot, there’s a greater expense. It takes more people to facilitate, communicate and understand how to cast this for an election so expense is going to go up for election judges,” Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray said “We’re just not properly in the right foundation yet to facilitate, I think, impactfully of a ranked choice voting election.” He also worried transparent, accurate and expedited results and trust and confidence in the system could be impacted.

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State data shows low-income scholarship students score better than public school peers – Illinois Policy

Low-income students receiving scholarships from the Invest in Kids program were proficient in reading and math at a higher rate in nearly every grade compared to low-income public-school students in Illinois, according to data release by the state. High school students receiving the scholarships beat the state average for all public high school students in reading.

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Biden highlights Stellantis Belvidere plant ‘comeback story’ in State of the Union speech -WTVO (Rockford)

Calling the reopening of the Stellantis plant in Belvidere a “great comeback story,” President Biden said, “Before I came to office, the plant was on its way to shutting down. Thousands of workers feared for their livelihoods. Hope was fading. Then I was elected to office and we raised Belvidere repeatedly with the auto company, knowing unions make all the difference. The UAW worked like hell to keep the plant open and get those jobs back. And together, we succeeded!”

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Editorial: Pritzker is right to end the grocery tax. But he must make it up to municipalities. – Chicago Tribune*

“(O)fficials like Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara already were complaining about the reductions in the so-called Local Government Distributive Fund. ‘Since 2011,’ McNamara wrote recently in the Rockford Register-Star, ‘the state has unilaterally decreased the local share of LGDF by almost 40 percent, so that in State Fiscal Year 2023, the local government share is only 6.16 percent of individual income tax collections and 6.845 percent of corporate income tax collections.’ Those are real concerns that (Gov. JB) Pritzker and his team have to address.”

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Ranked-choice voting could come to Illinois in 2028 – WIFR (Rockford)

State Rep. Maurice West, co-chair of Illinois’ ranked-choice and voting systems task force, explained, “The ranked-choice voting that we are trying to implement here in the state of Illinois is focused on presidential primaries. We are working together with people on both sides of the aisle, we are collecting all the facts to see what the appetite is here in the state.”

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Illinois car insurance prices are spiking; 2 bills in General Assembly hope to bring prices down – ABC7 (Chicago)

Insurance committee member and state Rep. Jeff Keicher, who is also a State Farm Insurance agent, said Illinois has the 18th lowest rates in the country. “We have an open and competitive marketplace so if an insurer is charging too much, insurers are free and able to very easily to secure another carrier, oftentimes at a lower price,” he said.

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Illinois GOP legislators demand transparency surrounding spending on migrants – Center Square

SB3170 would require state agencies to submit a report to the General Assembly detailing their spending on or before Nov. 15, 2024. “We don’t know where the money is coming from, what departments, and we’ve asked (Illinois Department of Public Health), (Illinois Emergency Management Agency), all these departments to give us what they’ve spent on projects and we are met with silence,” state Sen. Sally Turner said.

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Unions back measure protecting employees who skip religious or political work meetings – Capitol News IL

Members of the Illinois Senate advanced a measure that would prohibit Illinois companies from requiring employees to attend work-related meetings about politics or religion. Opponents of the bill, like National Federation of Independent Business Illinois State Director Noah Finley, said the legislation would prevent employees from getting new points of view from their employer – like which legislation their union dues could support.

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Defund the police ‘isn’t dead,’ it’s just taken new form with massive implications: retired police chief – FOX News

“It’s not the marches and the protests and the rioting. It is the taking away of your authority, that taking away of the job function,” retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said. He pointed to California, Washington, D.C., and Cook County as areas where local policing policies have been gutted and crime subsequently increased. He cited policy changes such as Illinois’ SAFE-T Act, which ended cash bail in the state among other changes, and San Francisco recently limiting who is pulled over for traffic infractions.

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Column: February’s state revenues are way up over January – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “One way to generate higher revenue would be to increase the number of people working. Illinois’ current unemployment rate is, as of December, 4.8 percent. It’s tied with New Jersey for the fourth highest in the nation. The national unemployment rate is 3.7 percent, an extremely low number on a historical basis. On that same basis, Illinois’ 4.8 percent rate also is considered relatively low. Still, the numbers show that Illinois is failing its citizens in terms of helping to create job opportunities.”

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Judicial Watch files lawsuit against Illinois State Board of Elections – Cook County Record

“Illinois’ voting rolls are a mess. Dirty voter rolls can mean dirty elections,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. The lawsuit points out several failures within Illinois reports and a lack of reports. These show several counties removed very few voter registrations or none at all, and 34 counties have failed to report any changes in data. Several other violations of the National Voter Registration Act were listed.

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Industry expert: More than doubling sports gambling tax will have negative impact – Center Square

If approved by the legislature, the tax for sports book operators would go from 15% to 35%, one of the highest percentages in the country. Dan Holmes with the gambling information website PlayIllinois said big operators like DraftKings and FanDuel should have no problems with the increased operational taxes, but may choose to offer less perks to Illinois sports bettors. But there is speculation that smaller sports books may suffer and close up shop in Illinois.

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Illinois measure to require social media companies pay news outlets debated – Center Square

Senate Bill 3591 would set up a structure for online news outlets to negotiate with social media platforms to get compensated when someone shares a news story on their news feed. Jeff Jarvis, a longtime journalist and professor, questioned the First Amendment implications, and said that in locations that have already done this, social media companies ended sharing news stories online, resulting in no loss of traffic for them, but lost traffic to the news outlet.

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State commission says Illinois underfunds public universities by $1.4 billion – Capitol News IL

Ralph Martire, of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, said the amount of operational funding covered by the state has decreased from 72 percent covered in 2002 to 35 percent in 2021. “We are making higher ed more unaffordable for everyone in Illinois generally,” said Martire, who also served on the commission. “But in particular, for low-income families and families that have been marginalized for decades.”

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Illinois commission releases recommendations on how to make higher-ed funding more equitable – NPR (Springfield)

Said commission member and Advance Illinois president Robin Steans, “If we learned anything from K-12, it’s that not every student requires the same support. It may cost more [when it comes] to the first-generation goers, if they are English language learners, if they are parents, if they’ve got housing instability, all of that got factored in. We’ve come up with what we think is a credible way for the state to look at that and say, ‘Okay, here’s what it’ll cost,’ and here’s how you adjust that adequacy target based on your student population and the type of programs and

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Ex-state Sen. Terry Link gets probation for campaign-cash tax conviction – Chicago Tribune/MSN

U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland said Wednesday she appreciated that Link’s tax crime “was not directly related” to his official duties, but that it still sends “a terrible message to have taxpayers hear that someone in public service is not paying their taxes.” The judge also lamented the level of corruption in Springfield, where apparently someone can walk up to a fellow elected official and “on a dime, you could say ‘What’s in it for me?’ and we’d be off to the races with a federal case.”

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Wetlands protection bill aims to close gaps in Illinois after Supreme Court ruling – Chicago Tribune*

Illinois is one of several states with no statewide protections for wetlands on private land. It relied on federal Clean Water Act protections until the conservative court severely curtailed them in Sackett v. EPA, a ruling that has been celebrated by real estate developers and industry but has greatly concerned environmentalists. If passed, the Wetlands and Small Streams Protection Act will empower the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to regulate land use around the state’s remaining wetlands.

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Opinion: No tax dollars for CCP companies – Washington Examiner

U.S. Rep John Moolenaar and Paul Teller, of Advancing American Freedom: Gotion [which is scheduled to build a plant in Manteno, subsidized by the state] is undoubtedly a threat to U.S. national security…. Former President Barack Obama’s defense secretary, Leon Panetta, along with former President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, recently testified that Gotion poses a significant risk to American sovereignty and security…. Only a fool would fund his adversaries….”

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State Rep. Ryan Spain: Illinoisans deserve some truth telling after Pritzker’s State of the State – Chicago Tribune*

“Because once you weed out the parts of (Gov. JB) Pritzker’s speech and budget proposal that are there solely for future presidential ads, you see the true state of the state. … The artificial boost to state revenue from federal taxpayer dollars is gone, and revenues from inflationary spikes are slowing. The years of budgets in which increases in normal spending outpaced increases in typical revenues are catching up to us. Said simply, the gravy train is gone, but the appetite of Pritzker and his majority for spending is stronger than ever.”

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Pritzker says he took GOP advice to eliminate grocery tax – Center Square

To the idea that municipalities may have to increase local taxes if they lose the grocery tax, Gov. JB Pritzker pointed fingers at Republicans who criticized the one-year suspension of the tax in fiscal year 2022 saying it should be permanent. He said he’s willing to have conversations with local officials about how to replace that revenue.

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Judges, ex-lawmakers, lobbyists wrote to support convicted ex-Madigan aide – Capitol News IL

Among them was former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, who noted he’d gotten to know Mapes over 20 years on the court, and that Mapes’ son Devin had been a judicial intern in his office. “Although I have not been privy to the full trial story, and my view is limited to my reading of newspaper articles, Tim’s misdeeds appear to be his first offense and to have had minimal impact on the investigation,” Kilbride wrote.

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Report: Illinois tax-credit scholarship students see largest year-over-year learning gains – Illinois Policy

Invest in Kids students had a “significantly larger average increase in scale scores one year later compared to the average public-school student” among scholarship students and public students who scored at the lowest performance level on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness’ reading exam. That means scholarship students struggling at the lowest levels of reading proficiency experienced more growth at their private school than their public-school counterparts.

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Paul Vallas: First report on Invest in Kids scholarship program has major flaws – Chicago Tribune*

“In fairness to the report, this may be more the fault of the media coverage that ignored the report’s pointing to strong satisfaction among the overwhelming majority of parents with the private schools their children are attending. … These schools, primarily Catholic, not only managed to stay open through substantial financial support from their faith communities but have also demonstrated remarkable success in Chicago and across the nation among all student demographics.”

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Pritzker Risks Millions of Taxpayer Money on Risky Investments – Breakthrough Ideas

“… Gov. Pritzker is essentially acting as a venture capitalist in a start-up company. He is putting taxpayer money on the line for a company (Lion Electric) that lost $5.5 million on revenue of $253.5 million in 2023. … One month after signing the deal with Illinois and promising to bring jobs to Illinois and eight days after Pritzker’s speech, which was remarkably silent on electric vehicles and green energy, Lion Electric announced it is laying off workers.”

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Illinois Official Pitches Plan to Bill Biden for Migrant Costs – Bloomberg/Yahoo

Comptroller Susana Mendoza said that when the pandemic hit, states paid for things like gloves and masks before assistance from the federal government started flowing in. Illinois should also get aid now, said Mendoza, for a bill that has already reached $478 million. “This is a situation that the federal government has allowed to happen and now states are having to deal with it.”

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Gov. Pritzker Seeking to Eliminate State Grocery Tax, But Some Municipalities Could Push Back – WTTW (Chicago)

Illinois shoppers would save a dollar when they buy $100 worth of groceries under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposal to eliminate a state sales tax on groceries. Chicago stands to lose considerably more — as much as $80 million per year — according to the Illinois Municipal League. The league estimates the tax change would cost Batavia and Highland Park about $1 million annually, Joliet $3 million, Orland Park $2.5 million and Western Springs $580,000.

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Illinois steak restaurants close as costs rise – Center Square

“The labor continues to be a bugaboo with restaurant business, as far as the increase in minimum wage year after year,” Mercedes Restaurants president Ron Helms said. “They’re talking about doing away with the waiters’ tip credit, which right now is a big problem going on in the future for the state of Illinois.”

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In Virgina, Gov. Pritzker steps up attacks on ‘stupid and ignorant’ Donald Trump – Chicago Sun-Times

Pritzker, also a top surrogate for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, took on the age issue — which polls show is punishing Biden, 81 and not Trump, 77. “And I don’t want to hear B.S. about anyone’s age… Donald Trump was stupid and ignorant long before he got old,” the governor said. Pritzker said he learned an important lesson in the 2016 presidential election, when Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton: “Don’t mince words, in the fight of your life. Don’t hold back. This is an existential battle everyone.”

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Peoria police department apologizes after ‘Call of Duty’-themed recruitment ad prompts backlash: ‘Tone-deaf’ – FOX News

Peoria Police Department Chief of Police Eric Echevarria said that the advertisement was designed to “connect to a younger generation.” The advertisement showed Peoria Police Department officers wearing tactical gear and drawing guns. “Stop playing games and answer the Call of Duty,” the ad was captioned along with #JoinPPD.

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Homer Glen asks voters whether it should try to dissolve township – Daily Southtown*

If the advisory referendum passes, it would show residents are interested in eliminating a layer of government, Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike said, noting Illinois has three times more government bodies than other states. “If residents vote yes, this will put pressure on all taxing bodies,” she said. “Residents are fed up. We can’t afford it any more. If residents say ‘Yes, get rid of taxing bodies we don’t need,’ it will speak volumes.”

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Illinois redirecting $30M of marijuana taxes to minority communities – WTVO (Rockford)

The Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program will make the money available to “organizations that set out to create safer communities, empower youth, provide legal aid, build business landscapes, and help individuals successfully rejoin communities after a period of incarceration.” Equity scores increase when program leadership, front line, and staff members are reflective of the proposed program’s service area (community).

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Parents sound alarm on Illinois bill that seeks to prevent guardians from denying sex changes – The Lion

Jeannette Cooper, a parent in Illinois, lost visitation rights over not calling her daughter by different pronouns than her biological sex and worries this law will be weaponized against other parents to do the same. “People fear losing their child to the state. As soon as they take a child away from a parent, that’s trauma inflicted on the child. People fear child protective services coming to their door,” she said.

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Progressive Champion Jesus ‘Chuy’ García Faces Conservative Challenger Raymond Lopez in 4th District Congressional Race – BNN Breaking

“The outcome of this race could have significant implications for the 4th District and the broader political landscape. García’s progressive credentials and alignment with nationally recognized figures like The Squad indicate a potential for continued advocacy on progressive issues at the national level. Lopez, with endorsements from conservative groups and a focus on law and order, represents a shift towards more conservative policies.”

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Science group raises concerns over Illinois’ attempt to ban food additives – Center Square

James Coughlin, food toxicology expert with the Institute of Food Technologists, said there should be a uniform set of rules for the entire country. “This patchwork of several states having their own banned additives on a list make it very difficult for food manufacturers to sell things in interstate commerce,” he said. Craig Llewellyn, also with the Institute of Food Technologists, said states should trust the Food and Drug Administration on what additives should be banned.

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Column: Pritzker doesn’t call out critics, just calls them names – Champaign News Gazette*

Jim Dey: “We, we, we. Like a narcissistic opera singer, (Gov. JB) Pritzker unleashed a torrent of self-congratulation that meant me, me, me, me. ‘Do not let the doom grifters steal your optimism about what’s ahead for Illinois. Our future is bright.’ Who are ‘doom grifters’? They are ‘spelunkers of misery.’ Who? The ‘carnival barkers.’ Pritzker’s barb collection refers to skeptical financial analysts, including those at Truth in Accounting and Wirepoints who report the unofficial side of the budget story. Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon acknowledged Pritzker’s resentment but said the ‘name calling honestly doesn’t bother me.'”

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Opinion: How many Chicago Democrats are for Nikki Haley? – Chicago Tribune*

Will Johnson, Chicago-based CEO of The Harris Poll: In the Republican caucus in Iowa and primary elections in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Michigan — states that allow some form of crossover or unaffiliated voting — exit polls show upward of half of Haley’s support came from a combination of Democrats and independents. And they’re being urged by political action committees to keep it up next week in the seven Super Tuesday states with open primary elections.

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It shouldn’t be so hard to become an educated voter – Editorial – Chicago Sun-Times

Philanthropic support, like the $500 million Press Forward nationwide initiative, is important. Legislation can make a difference too, and Illinois has two ambitious proposals, introduced by state Sen. Steve Stadelman of Rockford, that are worth strong consideration from lawmakers: Senate Bill 3591, the Journalism Preservation Act, would require social media and tech giants like Google and Facebook to compensate local news organizations for content they share and profit from. Senate Bill 3592 would create the Strengthening Community Media Act with hiring incentives, including a tax credit for news outlets to hire more reporters and for small businesses that advertise with

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Fourth District: Constitutional challenge to Pritzker’s COVID-19 emergency orders declared moot – Madison-St. Clair Record

The plaintiffs filed a petition for declaratory relief and for a writ of injunction against Gov. JB Pritzker in December 2021 in regards to his use of the Illinois Emergency Agency Act, including a proclamation in September 2021 mandating school personnel to either receive a COVID-19 vaccine or undergo weekly testing in response to the “more aggressive and more transmissible” Delta variant.

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Illinois ranks as worst state for low-income earners – Illinois Policy

A WalletHub study found low-income Illinoisans pay 14% of their annual salary to sales, property and incomes taxes – more than anywhere else in the nation. Middle-income earners will spend 12.6% of their income on state and local taxes this year. The largest proportion will go toward covering sales and excise taxes on the purchase of goods.

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Commentary: Gov. JB Pritzker’s willingness to tackle pension problem is a breakthrough – Chicago Tribune*

David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “Pritzker does have a plan, and that makes him the first Illinois governor in 30 years to propose a way out of this seemingly insurmountable pension problem…There likely will be time to debate the alternative options. Chances are, Pritzker’s idea won’t be taken up during the current legislative session. But let’s embrace a breakthrough while we can — before the messy work of lawmaking gets underway and compromises and accommodations come into play.”

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Proposed Illinois house bill would ban Native American mascots in Illinois Public Schools – WICS (Springfield)

House bill 5617, which prohibits all Illinois public schools from having a mascot with a Native American name, could require more than 50 schools in the state to change their mascots, name and logo. Nokomis superintendent Scott Doerr said, “If at this time we had to make a change, especially in a short amount of time that this bill might go into effect, we’re talking about maybe $100,000 for signage change, uniforms and gym floors and all the mats and things that we have.”

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Illinois Paid at Least $640K to Review Controversial ‘Invest In Kids’ Tax Credit Program, But Results Are Deemed ‘Inconclusive’ – WTTW (Chicago)

(WTTW News)California-based research company WestEd said “the research team was constrained by the data that the Illinois State Board of Education shared with us.” The data did not contain demographic information about individual students, including race/ethnicity, English learner status or level of economic disadvantage.

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Pritzker wants to spend record amount but needs $898M in tax hikes to do it – Illinois Policy

“Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker will set another state record if his $52.7 billion budget for 2025 is passed. He described it as ‘tight’ as well as ‘focused and disciplined.’ But it relies on $898 million in new taxes. It is nearly $13 billion more than the state budget when he took office. So, yes, it’s focused and disciplined – as much as sailors on leave.”

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Bill introduced to stop hidden fees in Illinois – WCIA (Champaign)

State Rep. Bob Morgan and state Senator Omar Aquino have filed bills to stop companies from charging more for junk fees, often labelled as “processing” or “service” fees. The legislation would also permit the Attorney General to go after the companies not being transparent with their pricing. A Consumer Reports analysis found an average family of four pays about $3,200 each year in fees.

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Bill seeking to implement state gun ‘buyback’ program gets pushback – Center Square

House Bill 4681 proposes that residents receive $100 for operable firearms they turn into Illinois State Police. But the Illinois State Police has administrative and staffing issues that will prohibit them from processing the firearms safely. As it is, the Auditor General revealed in a 2022 inventory report there were 719 missing items from the ISP worth $1.5 million. In 2021, the inventory audit reported 1,413 missing items worth nearly $2.5 million.

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Chicago and Denver are growing fast as migrant destinations – Bloomberg

Migrants cross the Rio Grande River to Eagle Pass, Texas.The number of migrants listing an address in Illinois for their immigration court cases jumped nine-fold in 2023 compared with just two years earlier; the increase was 7-fold in Colorado and five times in New York—bigger than the increases seen in Texas and Florida. The data also suggest that New York state saw the highest number of migrant arrivals in 2023 on a per capita basis: Illinois ranked eighth at 0.6.

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Trump appeals Cook County judge’s ruling to remove him from ballot – FOX32 (Chicago)

Trump’s campaign is now requesting that the Appellate Court of Illinois for the First District reverse and vacate the judgment and “affirm and reinstate the Electoral Board Decision, which overruled and dismissed Petitioners-Appellees’ January 4, 2024 objection to the nomination of Donald J. Trump.” The court battle will likely be rendered moot thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court taking up the same question in an upcoming case.

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Manufacturers oppose Chicago’s climate lawsuit – Center Square

“This has been litigated again and again around the country, and when these lawsuits have been filed, they’ve been unsuccessful,” said Mark Denzler, of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association. “Again, this is purely a political calculation to deflect from issues like the immigration concern, the crime problems, housing and education that occur in the city of Chicago.”

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Pritzker pitches budget reduction for opioid fight – Advantage News

Budget documents from the governor’s office show the line item for Addiction Treatment, Prevention, and Related Services was  cut from $71.5 million for fiscal year 2024 to $56.5 million for fiscal 2025. For Addiction Treatment Services, last year’s budget appropriated $107.1 million; the proposed plan for fiscal 2025 has that line item at $85 million.

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Convicted ex-Michael Madigan aide will have his pension suspended – Chicago Sun-Times

Former Madigan Chief of Staff Timothy Mapes’s annual taxpayer-funded pension currently stands at $154,409, according to records maintained by the State Employees’ Retirement System. The state retirement board that oversees pension benefits for current and retired state workers also is asking Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to recommend whether it should be permanently revoked.

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IL’s federal chief judge declines to answer senators’ questions about S. IL judges’ alleged discriminatory orders – Cook County Record

In the complaint for judicial misconduct filed in the Seventh Circuit by the America First Legal Foundation against U.S. District Court judges Nancy Rosenstengel, Staci Yandle and David Dugan, all of whom preside over cases in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, based in the Metro East region, near St. Louis, America First Legal Foundation’s Gene Hamilton wrote, “A reasonable observer would lose faith in the judiciary upon discovering that a court considers a lawyer’s sex or minority status when making important decisions about how cases are adjudicated.”

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Tier 2 pensions under scrutiny in Illinois – Advantage News

In an Illinois House Personnel and Pensions Committee hearing, state Rep. Blaine Wilhour said in “typical Springfield fashion” the same people who negotiated Tier 2 back in 2010 want to now enhance their benefits. “There are several bills out there that are going to do it [enhance Tier 2], the chair of the Pension Committee is wanting to do that right now. The governor spoke about it in his budget address. Bottom line is: there are simple fixes to this and we don’t have to enhance benefits across the whole system.”

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Counties say Supreme Court decision chastising forced home sales over unpaid property tax bills shouldn’t apply in IL – Cook County Record

Attorneys representing the treasurers and clerks in eight counties, including DuPage, Lake, Kane, Will and Winnebago counties, argue that Illinois law requires the counties tasked with collecting property taxes to maintain a so-called “indemnity fund” from which homeowners whose homes are seized and sold over delinquent property taxes can sue to recover the equity they may have lost in the tax sale.

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New report: Public school students outperformed tax credit scholarship recipients attending private schools on Illinois Assessment of Readiness – Chicago Tribune*

In 2022, 30 percent of public school students met or exceeded standards, compared to 21 percent of scholarship recipients, according to the report from nonprofit research agency WestEd, which notes that in the following year, 35 percent of public school students met or exceeded reading standards, compared to 23 percent of Invest in Kids scholarship recipients.

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Experts on the growing power of the Latino vote in Illinois: ‘There is work that we need to do’ – NBC5 (Chicago)

The 2010 Census showed an increase of nearly 500,000 Latino residents in Illinois, up 32.5% from 2000. In 2020, Census data showed another increase of more than 300,000 Latinos in Illinois – growing the Latino share of the state’s population from 15.8% to 18.2% even as Illinois’ overall population continued to fall. And as of 2021, roughly 72% of the state’s voting-age Latinos were U.S. citizens, with the percentage of Illinois Latinos born in the U.S. increasing by nearly 29% over the previous decade, data shows.

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BNSF Settles Illinois Biometric Privacy Case for $75 Million – Bloomberg Law

The case is the first Biometric Information Privacy Act case to go to trial and the first to wrestle with the issue of just how much money a company found to violate the BIPA law should pay. BNSF Railway Co. Monday agreed to pay $75 million to settle the case after a jury found the company violated the privacy rights of thousands of employees, a decrease from an initial award $228 million.

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Are Publicly Funded Stadiums a Good Investment? State Lawmakers Weigh in on Chicago Teams’ Plans – WTTW (Chicago)

State Rep. Kam Buckner, who played college football at the University of Illinois, said, “I’ve been on record that public financing for private stadiums is historically problematic and that the taxpayers of Illinois have to be protected no matter what. I also think there may be creative and prudent ways to create some partnerships between the state and these organizations.”

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Study: Illinois’ spending per student is one of highest in the country – Center Square

The Reason Foundation found that Illinois’ inflation-adjusted education revenue grew from just over $13,000 per K-12 student in 2002 to over $20,000 per student in 2020, a growth rate that ranked third highest in the U.S. “A lot of it is driven by teacher pension debt and Illinois is a pretty good example of this trend,” said Aaron Smith, co-author of the study. “During the time period we examined, their per student spending on benefits went up nearly 200%.”

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Pritzker continues to downplay speculation he’s eyeing the White House – Center Square

After last week’s State of the State address, where Gov. JB Pritzker worked in presidential politics condemning the likely Republican nominee former President Donald Trump and praising incumbent President Joe Biden, state Rep. Ryan Spain said it sounded like a stump speech. “I wish that instead of focusing on national politics and the governor’s own presidential ambitions, we can sit down and get serious about bringing economic growth to the state of Illinois.”

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Measure to make Illinois student records permanent to be amended – Center Square

A measure introduced by Illinois state Sen. Dave Koehler looks to change what is traditionally included in a student’s “record” and would do away with destruction of the temporary record and make it permanent. The bill was brought forward because adults with disabilities are running into an eligibility roadblock when trying to obtain benefits from the DHS.

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Pritzker wants Illinois ‘out of the business’ of charging grocery taxes – NBC5 (Chicago)

Under current Illinois law, home-rule communities are permitted to assess a sales tax of their own on groceries, and Gov. JB Pritzker says he has no intention of ending that practice. “If they want to in Henry County, in Union County, in local towns and cities across the state, if they want to impose the 1% grocery tax, we will leave it up to them to do it,” he said.

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Illinois proposes an additional $24M for EV manufacturing workforce training – WTVO (Rockford)

Last week, Rivian, which makes an electric pickup, SUV and Amazon fleet van, announced it was laying off 10% of its workforce to cut costs due to “economic and geopolitical pressures.” The company has announced three rounds of layoffs since July 2022. It also said it expected to shut down its Normal plant sometime in 2024 to upgrade its manufacturing line.

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Organization files federal civil rights complaint against Western Illinois University, alleging discriminatory scholarships – WGEM (Quincy)

The Equal Protection Project alleges that 16 scholarships at the university are discriminatory. The complaint states the scholarships “either restrict eligibility to students who are ‘African American,’ ‘Black Women,’ ‘Latino,’ or students who identify as ‘LGBTQI+’ or give preference to such students.”

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Federal Food Assistance Program for Mothers, Children Faces $1B Shortfall. Here’s How That Could Impact Services in Illinois – WTTW (Chicago)

Stephanie Bess, associate director of the Office of Family Wellness and WIC lead at the Illinois Department of Human Services, said not getting increased funding from Congress would effectively be a budget cut due to increases in caseload, food costs and staff costs. Illinois would need about $24 million in additional funding for the 2024 fiscal year to serve its eligble population.

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Pritzker touts proposed maternal health spending – Capitol News IL

The Illinois Birth Equity Initiative is a multi-pronged proposal aimed at promoting infant health while reducing the number of maternal and infant deaths. Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed: $5 million to a home visiting program for new parents; more than $4 million to create a statewide maternal health plan and distribute grants to community-based reproductive health care providers; a $1 million pilot diaper distribution program; and $12 million to create a tax credit aimed at low-income families with children younger than age three.

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Illinois bill looks to stop car insurance from using consumer information to set rates – Center Square

Proposed legislation aims to prevent insurance companies from using consumer information, like a person’s race, to set what he said are discriminatory auto insurance rates. During an Illinois House Insurance Committee hearing in Chicago Monday, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said an individual’s driving record should serve as the primary factor that is analyzed when setting rates.

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Behavioral health advocates ‘shocked and dismayed’ drug program being cut – Center Square

At $52.7 billion, Gov. JB Pritzker’s spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 would spend the most of any previous state budget. But documents from the governor’s office show the line item for Addiction Treatment, Prevention, and Related Services was $71.5 million for fiscal year 2024; for fiscal 2025’s proposed plan, that line item is $56.5 million. For Addiction Treatment Services, last year’s budget appropriated $107.1 million; for fiscal 2025, that line item is $85 million

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Failure to protect: Flawed state oversight lets doctors accused of abuse continue to see patients – Chicago Tribune/MSN

Doctors and other health care providers accused by patients of sexual misconduct kept practicing – sometimes for years – because of gaps in Illinois laws and a licensing agency that can be slow to take disciplinary action. The providers went on to harm additional patients, in some cases, as their licenses remained in good standing with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

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Commentary: Gov. Pritzker’s plan isn’t enough to close state’s education funding gap – Chicago Tribune*

“ISBE’s own data demonstrates that 92% of Black and Latino students attend underfunded schools. This is unacceptable in a state that celebrates its school funding formula as one of the most progressive in the country. It is the state’s responsibility to be honest about the true EBF deficit and fulfill the 2017 promise to adequately fund every public school by 2027.”

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Why are Americans becoming more stupid? Our entire education system needs a revolution. – Unheard

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“In some cases, the defence of failure is breathtaking. Blue states such as Illinois have worked to all but eliminate charters, even as the Land of Lincoln boasts 53 schools where not one student can do grade-level math and 30 where none can do so in English. These schools are overwhelmingly in Chicago, where a significant increase in spending per student since 2019 seems to have made no impact. Yet Chicago’s failures are wholly representative.

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JB Pritzker wants Illinois to be the ‘leader for quantum innovation.’ What does that mean? – Courthouse News Service

The Illinois Department of Commerce said that of the $500 million proposal, $300 million would be earmarked for the quantum campus and $200 million would go to “matching federal grant opportunities,” but the governor’s office didn’t clarify how the proposed campus would differ from existing Illinois quantum research facilities at Argonne and Fermilab. It doesn’t even know where it wants to put the thing. “There are a number of sites currently under consideration — no decision on the location has been made,” a spokesperson from the Department of Commerce said.

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Illinois’ film tax credit lures Hollywood to the heartland – Daily Herald*

Illinois is one of 37 states to offer some type of production incentive, according to the report. “There are common challenges with measuring the economic values of this type of incentive,” said Austin Berg, of the Illinois Policy Institute. “What would the economic advantage be if you reduced the tax bill of all businesses by $200 million instead of just one industry?”

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Commentary: Auto repair reform has strengthened Illinois’ economy – Daily Herald*

“Also referred to as the “Multiplier Act,” (House Bill 3940) ended the two-tiered compensation system in auto repair, requiring out-of-state and foreign auto companies to pay the same market rate for warranty repairs as everyday consumers would pay for non-warranty repairs…Researchers show that earnings for Illinois’ auto mechanics have increased by $143 million annually since the law went into effect.”

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Metra to buy first battery-powered trains as part of effort to provide more frequent all-day service – WBEZ (Chicago)

Metra’s zero-emission trains will feature low-level boarding and ADA-compliant lifts.The commuter rail agency will pay $154 million for eight two-car, zero-emission trains with a range of 45 to 65 miles, Metra said. Trains can be charged from 20% to 80% — enough to operate — in about 20 or 30 minutes. Metra hasn’t figured out a charging infrastructure yet or its cost. Metra said it’s one of the first U.S. commuter rail agencies to purchase battery-powered trains.

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A Blue State Exodus: Who Can Afford to Be a Liberal? – Mish Talk

“…I propose the first group of people who can most afford to be liberals are the political class that takes advantage of young idealistic fools. The process is accurately called ‘vote buying’. The second group that can afford to be liberals are the arrogant elites such as Bill Gates and George Soros.”

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EV Startups Struggled to Build Cars. Now They Struggle to Sell Them. – Wall Street Journal

The electric-pickup maker Rivian plans to produce 57,000 vehicles this year, roughly the same number as last year. Lucid said it aims to produce 9,000 vehicles, a slight increase from last year’s figure. Both say they are concentrating on finding customers. Car companies from Tesla to Ford Motor are hunkering down in the midst of weaker than expected demand for battery-powered vehicles in the U.S.

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IL Freedom Caucus Statement on Governor’s State of the State Address – Southland Journal

It reads, in part, “No one is against spending money on education, but we need results, not more spending. When in one in 10 Black students in the City of Chicago can only read at grade level – something is clearly wrong. The solution is accountability, competition, and better allocation of resources. Spending money for the sake of spending money has been an unmitigated disaster.”

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States are spending billions on resources for migrants – NewsNation

Massachusetts has a dozen contracts totaling $116 million for housing. New York City is spending $53 million on a pilot program to distribute prepaid debit cards to migrant families meant to help them buy food and baby supplies.  And in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed in his new budget an additional $182 million for migrants that comes on top of $638 million already spent.

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John Kass: Democratic Panic Grows Over Biden’s Invasion of the Illegals

“Black Democrats are so angry about Biden’s millions of illegal aliens crowding them out of the blue cities, and feeling betrayed by Biden, Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon ‘Panic Attacks’ Johnson, that they’re publicly talking about leaving the Democrat plantation. They can see what he’s doing. He’s replacing them.”

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Good citizens need to pay attention to what’s going on – Daily Journal

The CCOM’s fight against Gotion has now received national coverage through several televisions news programs and newspapers. Fundraising efforts have brought hundreds of protesters together, and donations have been coming in, locally, as well as from out-of-state Americans who want to join our fight to protect our country. Thousands of people have joined our Facebook page, No Gotion-Illinois. We welcome you to join and follow the facts.

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Bill would require Illinois K-12 schools drop Native American mascots – WGEM (Quincy)

“These mascots dehumanize an entire group of people and they have no place in our schools,” said state Rep. Laura Favor Dias, who, before going into politics, was a teacher at Westinghouse College Prep. Its nickname is the Warriors. “It was an offensive mascot and a caricature of an American Indian. I saw firsthand the divisiveness that it created among our students and within our larger school community.”

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Rich Miller: Take note of Black, Latino state legislators’ criticisms of Pritzker’s budget plan – Chicago Sun-Times

“‘This year, we will be negotiating from a position of strength,’ declared Black Caucus Chair Rep. Carol Ammons. ‘Our community and our members are the value-add in the General Assembly and nothing can be passed without our members.’ Not counting the House Speaker, there are 19 Black members in the House and 13 in the Senate, according to the caucus’ website. That’s enough to block a majority vote in both chambers, if they can stick together.”

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Illinois Courts Commission Removes Judge Robert Adrian from the bench – WICS (Springfield)

The Commission released its conclusion which reads, in part, “The Code and the Commission’s precedent provide ample grounds for removal in this case. Respondent has engaged in multiple instances of misconduct, he abused his position of power to indulge his own sense of justice while circumventing the law, he lied under oath on multiple occasions, and he has failed to acknowledge his misconduct.”

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Trucking group says it will sue if IL adopts CA emissions standards – Center Square

House Bill 1634 seeks to have Illinois adopt the vehicle emissions standards of California. “You cannot have a state submit itself and its laws and policies to another state agency that is over 2,000 miles away,” said Illinois Trucking Association Executive Director Matt Hart, adding that the Illinois trucking industry delivers 95% of the manufactured freight in the state.

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Gov. JB Pritzker wants to increase a state tax credit, but Republicans say it’s not enough – WBEZ (Chicago)

Gov. JB PritzkerAn inflation-indexed tax credit that millions of Illinoisans receive would rise for the 2024 tax year under a $93 million proposal by Gov. JB Pritzker, but the increase is short of what current law dictates. Lawmakers doing nothing on the governor’s proposal this spring actually would be more generous for taxpayers than what Pritzker is floating.

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IDPH allows schools to obtain and administer opioid antagonists – WCIA (Champaign)

The Health Department’s new standing order comes after a state law revision that took effect Jan. 1 of this year, requiring schools to have a supply of opioid antagonists; it states that they may obtain them without a prescription, and that trained personnel can use these medications on school property if someone shows signs of an overdose. This is a requirement for schools in only nine U.S. states, now including Illinois.

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Column: New SOS running the same play as predecessors – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “There’s no guarantee (U.S. Sen. Dick) Durbin will step aside. But if he’s re-elected to a seventh term in 2026 — as he would likely be in solid Democratic Illinois — Durbin would be within days of his 82nd birthday. That’s not an age to be making long-term plans. So it’s perfectly reasonable for Democrats coveting Durbin’s seat to be plotting for 2026. A similar thing applies regarding Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s re-election plans in 2026, as he might run for a third term and use his office as a platform for a potential White House bid in 2028.

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Commentary: Illinois should protect tenants, property owners from harms of ‘crime-free’ housing laws – Chicago Tribune*

“These ordinances, known as CFNOs, are local laws that encourage landlords to evict or exclude tenants based on their contact with the criminal legal system or calls for police help. The Community Safety through Stable Homes Act, introduced earlier this month…would prevent local governments from imposing penalties based on a tenant’s contact with police. It would also prohibit local policies that encourage or require landlords to use broad criminal background checks or to evict tenants based solely on their contact with the police or alleged criminal or nuisance behavior.”

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State appeals court revives challenge to Cook County’s gun, ammo tax – Center Square

In 2012, Cook County approved a $25 per gun and 1 to 5 cent per cartridge of ammunition tax. Initial challenges went to the Illinois Supreme Court, which in 2021 ruled against the county. The county then modified the ordinance. Gun rights advocate Todd Vandermyde sued again on a Second Amendment challenge. After a district court dismissed the case, earlier this week an appeals court reinstated the challenge.

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Retailers push back on Pritzker’s proposal to cap sales tax credit they claim – Center Square

“They’re paying the cost of tax collection and remittance on behalf of the state for every transaction that occurs, particularly electronic transactions which now account for more than 80% of all transactions, so it’s not fair to shift more of that cost onto the backs of retailers regardless of their size,” said Rob Karr, president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

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With budget proposal and fiery address, Gov. JB Pritzker paints himself as progressive pragmatist – Capitol News IL

“Some elements of the governor’s proposed spending plan, like using $10 million in state funds to eliminate $1 billion worth of Illinoisans’ medical debt, are hardline progressive ideas. Others, including a goal to achieve ‘universal preschool’ by 2027, fit in with a more traditional liberal platform. But Pritzker has also defined his success in traditional economic terms, putting particular stock into how New York City-based credit ratings agencies view Illinois’ finances, while also positioning Illinois as a hub for emerging technologies like electric vehicles and quantum computing.”

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Child tax credit, funding for school meals: Five education bills to watch this legislative session – Chalkbeat Chicago

Last week, Gov. JB Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced they were partnering to provide $250 million to help migrants receive shelter, wraparound services, and health care. But a spokesperson for the governor said the funding is not for schools. Last year’s “New Arrivals Grant” bill last year that would have allocated $35 million to schools, but it did not move past committee. State lawmakers have not yet filed a bill this session to help schools support migrant students with additional funding.

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Pritzker’s $52.7B Budget Proposal Funds Migrant Care and Early Childhood Education, Angers Business Community – WTTW (Chicago)

A year and a half since the 1% grocery tax was reinstated, Gov. JB Pritzker wants to eliminate that tax permanently. But doing away with the tax won’t ding the state’s bank account. The tax goes to cities, which otherwise depend mostly on property taxes. Said Illinois Municipal League CEO Brad Cole, “It’s yet another cut for local revenues at the same time municipalities are given more and more unfunded mandates and less and less cooperation. At some point we are going to have to tell every mayor to leave the keys to City Hall on their desk and let

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Measure would allow Illinois schools ability to deny polling places – Center Square

House Bill 4709 would amend the current state statute that says if a county board chooses a school to be a polling place, then the school district must make the school available for use as a polling place. Right now, the law says the school is encouraged to close school for Election Day, which is in November, but makes no mention of closing schools for primaries or consolidated elections.

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Column: Appellate judges impatient with enhanced SAFE-T Act workload – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “Since the law took effect Sept. 18, Illinois’ five appellate courts have been overwhelmed with nearly 1,700 appeals requiring prompt review. As a consequence, the Illinois Supreme Court in January charged a special five-member committee with studying the problem and devising solutions…In the interim, however, three appellate justices from the state’s Second District have devised a partial solution to reduce the flow. They’ve told defense lawyers representing detained defendants to stop filing frivolous appeals.”

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Pritzker calls for health insurance reforms in State of the State address – Capitol News IL

Gov. JB Pritzker’s “Healthcare Consumer Access and Protection Act” will include a package of proposals aimed at controlling strategies that insurers use to reduce the amount of health care patients receive. It also includes new requirements for insurers to offer enough in-network doctors to meet consumers’ needs, as well as state regulatory control over rate increases in the large group insurance plans similar to regulations lawmakers approved last year for small group policies.

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Pritzker wants to increase funding goal for Illinois pension funds to 100% – Pensions and Investments

In his fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, Gov. JB Pritzker said adding three additional years to the funding payment plan will get the state “on a path to 100% funded like peer states.” He calls for an increase in the state’s annual pension contributions when legacy debts are paid off, and proposes dedicating half the revenue being used to pay off those bonds to make additional pension contributions when those debts are paid.

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Budget breakdown: Tax increases draws ire from Illinois lawmakers – State Journal-Register (Springfield)

No GOP lawmakers voted for the budget last year, including state Sen. Steve McClure, of Springfield. High taxes, he said, have already placed a burden on local businesses — pointing to the recent temporary closure of Loukinens’ on 4th and the permanent closure of Alexander’s Steakhouse. “Why isn’t the governor prioritizing people like them?,” McClure said following the speech. “Instead, he is prioritizing people of other countries and also encouraging them to keep on coming.”

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Illinois Democratic PAC backed by Don Harmon loses appeal of massive fines for not timely reporting campaign spending – Chicago Tribune/MSN

The unanimous bipartisan vote by the State Board of Elections followed a request by All for Justice, an independent expenditure PAC, after it was fined $108,500 by the board last year for failing to timely file detailed expenditure reports in spending $7.3 million to help elect Elizabeth Rochford and Mary Kay O’Brien to the state’s highest court in 2022. The fines were among the largest ever levied by the election board.

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Willie Wilson: Illinois and Chicago avoid confronting pension debt at their peril – Chicago Tribune*

“Budgets are about priorities, and unfortunately, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois leaders are not being completely honest with Illinoisans….The Taxpayer Pension Alliance — a group made up of Ted Dabrowski from Wirepoints, Josh Bandoch from the Illinois Policy Institute, Dennis LaComb of the Technology & Manufacturing Association and Ed Bachrach, who founded the Center for Pension Integrity — recently sent a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson sounding the alarm on the city of Chicago’s unfunded pension liability, which is more than $52 billion.”

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Sale of Granite City treatment plant has residents paying double in bills – KTVI (St. Louis)

Granite City Mayor Mike Parkinson said of the $86 million sale of the Granite City Wastewater Treatment Plant, “The driving force behind it was (that) the city has $100 million in pension liabilities that have to be covered and we’re at a crossroads…the significant amount of money that we could sell the plant for—that we’ll be able to position ourselves to pay that debt off without raising taxes on our citizens.”

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Jails across Illinois experience vacancies after elimination of cash bail – Center Square

McLean County Sheriff Matt Lane, whose jail is 38 percent occupied, is not a proponent of housing homeless individuals or migrants in the jail. “It’s not built for that, it’s not what it was intended for. It’s not an open campus. You can’t come and go as you please. I don’t think that’s a good idea. The county board might have some other ideas that we could discuss but I am not in favor of that.”

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Illinois gov. adds $500 million to quantum computing quest – Axios

The investment would complement Illinois’ bid to secure the headquarters of the National Semiconductor Technology Center, an R&D accelerator the Biden administration is establishing as part of the $280 billion CHIPS Act. Gov. JB Pritzker says he’s optimistic that the Illinois state legislature will embrace his proposal as a catalyst for job creation and investment attraction.

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Students pitch idea to change math curriculum at Illinois State Capitol – WCIA (Champaign)

It started as a joke. Math students at Oakwood Grade School asked to skip one of the units. “It was overcomplicated, and so we decided, well, if we’re not going to use that every single day, then we can figure out how to change it,” Madelyn Lapenas, an eighth grader at the school, said. Their plan is to change the curriculum so that students across Illinois learn math skills they say they will actually use in their everyday lives, like how to balance a checkbook, budget and save money.

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Dem states and cities, including Illinois and Chicago, funneled millions in federal COVID-19 aid to support illegals – FOX News

Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker speaking

In Illinois, the state government allocated $71.8 million in ARP funds for cash payments made “to households that were not eligible to receive Economic Impact Payments… due to immigration status.” Chicago’s government earmarked another $14.7 million for its “resiliency fund” which sent $500 cash transfers to tens of thousands of “previously excluded residents and domestic workers.”

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Pritzker’s budget to include plan to erase $1 billion in medical debt – Chicago Sun-Times

Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivering his state budget address in February 2020. Gov. JB Pritzker will propose investing $10 million of federal funds to erase more than $1 billion in medical debt for Illinois residents. It follows the lead of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle who in 2022 created the Cook County Medical Debt Relief Initiative with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act — using $12 million in federal funds with the potential of erasing up to $1 billion in medical debt. And now others are taking notice.

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President Pritzker? Political analysts speculate on Illinois gov’s future amid Biden’s uncertainty – FOX32 (Chicago)

While the State of the State address is an opportunity for Gov. JB Pritzker to shine, analysts agree the governor will likely steer clear of the growing crisis that is outmigration. “Downstate is basically universities and prisons. All the businesses that were there when I grew up as a kid are leaving and now they’re leaving north of I-80. This is the economic engine of the state. We need to have a discussion and the governor needs to lead on this about how we’re going to revitalize this state,” said Pat Brady, former Illinois GOP chair.

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Illinois Senate committee approves bill banning harmful additives in processed foods, drinks – WAND (Decatur)

California became the first state to ban these additives in October. Although, the chemicals are prohibited in all 27 European nations, Australia, Canada, Japan and China. But the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association encouraged lawmakers to reject the well-intentioned plan to avoid a confusing and costly patchwork of regulations. Food manufacturing generates more than $135 billion in economic impact for Illinois annually.

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Transmission line monopoly back on agenda at Statehouse after Pritzker’s veto – Capitol News IL

Rep. Larry Walsh was behind an unsuccessful push last year that would have granted a temporary “right of first refusal” to Ameren Illinois and MidAmerican Energy. Now, he’s advocating for a permanent right of first refusal to all existing electric utilities in the state. Like its predecessor, the measure is backed by the unions that represent the construction and electrical workers who handle these types of projects.

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California Emissions Standards Coming To Illinois? – Illinois Leaks

“(House Bill 1634) basically requires that ‘Illinois Environmental Protection Agency shall adopt rules to implement the motor vehicle emission standards of the State of California…’ While we see numerous problems with the bill, the fact this is an attempt to force Illinois drivers to comply with regulations written by unelected officials in California is probably the most absurd thing we have heard and that is saying something.”

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Illinois, Iowa bills cover damages from truck crashes – Land Line

Gov. JB Pritzker in 2023 enacted a new law to permit juries to grant unlimited non-economic, or pain-and-suffering, damages in wrongful death lawsuits. Punitive damages also are permitted for people who survive. “It is hard to imagine a more ill-advised piece of legislation that benefits no one other than trial lawyers,” Todd Spencer, president and CEO of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said at the time.

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Chicago’s migrant crisis raises questions of equity – Crain’s*

The migrant crisis has brought to light inequality in the way immigrants are treated. Members of the city’s undocumented Latino community are angry when they see newly arrived immigrants from Venezuela able to obtain work permits, which gives them access to better-paying jobs. Other communities are infuriated, too, pointing out that public funding to shelter and feed migrants is money that might otherwise be used to further address the city’s daunting social problems, such as homelessness, mental illness and poverty. How is it that new arrivals are assigned to city shelters while there are tent camps in Humboldt Park

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State Sen. Mike Simmons reacts to Illinois’ near bottom ranking in social mobility – Center Square

“Just a couple months ago, systemic racism was declared a public health crisis by the Illinois Department of Public Health,” he said. “What that means is all of our institutions, whether we’re talking about health care, financial institutions that make loans or access to good schools, these are all things where we’re going to see all this data stubbornly persist across all these different outcome variables when it comes to the Black community.”

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Gov. JB Pritzker confronts migrant crisis, projected shortfall as he prepares for his sixth budget address – Chicago Tribune/MSN

The governor’s office has said it expects to end the budget year this coming June 30 with a surplus of $422 million. But for the budget year that begins July 1, the governor’s office in November projected a shortfall of $891 million based on pension contributions and other costs rising faster than projected revenue. That figure could need to be made up through some combination of spending cuts or tax increases.

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Referendum would require parental consent for kids’ gender-modification procedures – WBBM (Chicago)

Activists seek to collect 500,000 signatures for a referendum that would require parental consent for children under the age of 18 to receive certain medical care, such as gender modification or therapy. Tracy Smodilla of the Parents Matter Coalition’ said many people are unaware of legislative changes in recent years that affect parental notification for abortion and other healthcare procedures.

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Pritzker to mull tightening fiscal landscape in budget address this week – Capitol News IL

If the projections hold, it likely means Gov. JB Pritzker and lawmakers will have to agree to slower spending growth or cuts to existing programs, new revenue streams, or some combination of those options. There’s been no talk at the Capitol of any new or increased taxes, and the governor has all but abandoned his major push for a graduated income tax constitutional amendment that failed before voters in 2020.

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‘Parental Nightmare’: Blue States Are Becoming Magnets For Runaway Kids Seeking Trans Treatments – Daily Caller

A law passed last year in Colorado outlaws the extradition of a person for a “legally protected health-care activity,” which is defined as “transgender” procedures and abortions. Another law in Illinois, passed in January 2023, prohibits the extradition of a person from the state who is charged for obtaining or attempting to obtain “lawful health care,” which is defined as abortion or transgender procedures.

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Illinois bill looks to raise estate tax threshold – WGEM (Quincy)

Brent Clair, a local farmer said for farmers, the value of the land has gone up due to inflation. He said farmers originally purchased the land at either 5 or 6 thousand dollars an acre, but with inflation the lands value is up to 10 to 15 thousand dollars per acre. “The farmer who bought this land is taxed on the money he used to pay for it. He’s got the property tax that’s used up. And so it’s a tax upon a tax upon a tax,” Clair said.

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Opinion: Why Illinois’ state budget matters to you – Illinois Policy

“(H)ere’s the thing about the budget – it’s big and bloated and complicated, but it affects all of us in a few big ways. For one, it affects how much we pay in taxes, which are coming due all-too-soon…And when it costs a lot to operate here, businesses don’t invest and sometimes don’t stay. That means fewer opportunities and less growth in your salary.”

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Sen. Durbin reacts to non-medical deaths at Thomson; union has response – WHBF (Rock Island)

“We are currently facing a staffing shortage after (Bureau of Prisons) Director (Collette ) Peters slashed the pay for the workers at Thomson Federal Prison,” union president Jon Zumkehr said in the statement. “We are currently experiencing a critical staff shortage, with a deficit of one hundred and eleven (111) employees and an additional seventeen (17) more anticipated departures.

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Southern Illinois community members join forces to urge city council members to call for a ceasefire in Gaza – Daily Egyptian

Members of the Southern Illinois Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), SIU Young Democratic Socialists of America and the Peace Coalition of Southern Illinois used flags, posters and chants to express their support for the people of Palestine and encourage the Carbondale City Council to pass a resolution in support of a ceasefire. Gage McPhail of the DSA described the organization’s recent protests as an “escalation tactic to then further pursue pressuring” leaders such as the U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who has yet to call for a ceasefire.

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Constellation requests 20-year license renewal for Illinois nuclear plant – Power Engineering

“The Clinton Clean Energy Center is not only the largest carbon-free electricity source in Central Illinois, but it also provides a major boost to the economy,” said Dan Matthews, president of the Clinton School District Board and a member of the DeWitt County Board. “The more than $13 million in annual property taxes supports education and county services, and the large number of employees live here and spend money, which supports local business and creates additional jobs. The plant’s relicensing is an important part of DeWitt County’s economic future.”

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Column: Write-in votes will have significance in primary – Champaign News-Gazette

“It’s not as difficult as it seems,” said (Kevin) Gaither, who needs 511 write-in votes to become the Democratic nominee against (U.S. Rep. Mary) Miller. “There is an oval with a line for write-ins. I’m the only person (who is a declared candidate) that people can write in. They have to fill in the oval and then write in my name. If they put in ‘Kevin’ or any kind of facsimile of that, it should be good enough to get it across the finish line. It’s all about the voter’s intent.”

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Some Illinois cities look to get ahead of lead pipe mandate – Bloomington Pantagraph

Last January, the Decatur City Council unanimously adopted a major policy change hoping to expedite the process, agreeing to cover 50% of the costs all residential and commercial lead water line replacement work. It is one of many such “cost-share” programs that have sprouted up across Illinois as an incentive from local governments to water customers to replace their lead lines – but it still represents a proverbial drop in the bucket when considering the nearly 7,000 lead service lines that need to be replaced within Decatur city limits by 2047 to comply with a law signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2021.

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Column: Illinois ‘earns’ a dubious distinction – people leaving – Lake County News-Sun*

Over the decades, Illinois has been a leader in significant enterprises, but there’s one the state may not relish to be first. For the fifth year in a row, the Land of Lincoln is a top state for people leaving. Illinois and California tied for the title of states folks want to get out of. That’s according to the annual Moving Migration Report from North American Moving Services

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Unions target far-right Illinois state representatives – WBEZ (Chicago)

It’s unusual for unions to get so heavily involved in southern Illinois Republican primary politics. The thousands of dollars the Illinois Federation of Teachers has sent GOP candidates over the last year, for example, pales in comparison to the amount they’ve sent Democratic candidates over the same period. But Dr. Dick Simpson, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Chicago, says it’s not unusual for unions to work against candidates diametrically opposed to their values.

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Competing priorities for Illinois taxpayer funds ahead of Pritzker’s address – Center Square

Illinois has been adding to its rainy day fund, reaching $2 billion last year, but Truth In Accounting CEO Sheila Weinberg said that can be misleading. “For example, California has a big rainy day fund, but they have $250 billion of debt,” said Weinberg. Illinois’ unfunded pension liability is around $140 billion. That does not include tens of billions in other post employment benefits for state retirees.

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Rich Miller: ‘Never rat on your friends, always keep your mouth shut.’ Mike Madigan’s man is going to prison for taking that to heart. – Chicago Sun-Times

“Before pronouncing his sentence on (Tim) Mapes, U.S. District Judge John Kness called out the defendant for his almost cartoonish adherence to ‘the Law of Omertà,’ the ancient mafia vow to never, as Kness put it, ‘rat on your friends.’ That behavior ‘had no place’ in a federal grand jury room, Kness told Mapes. ‘And you will pay the price for it.’ No lawyer, no matter how connected, could possibly spring Mapes from this trap.”

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Pritzker commits another $182 million to migrant response, details to come next week – Capitol News IL

Gov. JB Pritzker, who committed the state to providing more than half of the needed funds, is expected to provide more detail about where the money is coming from next Wednesday in his annual budget address. The state in November committed to a $160 million spending plan, although portions of that plan – such as a 2,000 bed shelter in Chicago – have yet to come to fruition. The state also claims that it has spent $478 million through existing channels, such as through the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, over the past two years.

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State Rep. Sue Scherer looks to expand senior property tax reliefs – WICS (Springfield)

The current Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption Program allows people 65 and older who have a total household income of $65,000 or less and meet other qualifications, to defer all or part of the real estate taxes on their residence. This bill would expand the eligibility pool for senior freeze applicants by raising the maximum income limitation to $85,000.

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Bill would give Illinois voters power to change how state is run – Illinois Policy

In 2014 more than 590,000 Illinois voters petitioned for an amendment that would have imposed an eight-year limit on state lawmakers staying in office. Despite term limits being supported by 80% of Illinoisans, it was struck down in court when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled only “structural and procedural” changes may be made to the constitution. State Rep. Tim Ozinga has filed House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 18 to expand potential amendments beyond issues that are “structural and procedural.”

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Chamber Chief on New BIPA Bill: “Move In the Right Direction” – The Illinoize

Lou Sandoval, the President and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce said the bill improves the BIPA issues. “It’s been difficult for businesses because it isn’t mal intended in terms of what they’ve sought to do,” Sandoval said. “I think it’s just that business wasn’t given a voice at the table and now we’re trying to undo a piece of legislation that was very one sided.” He says businesses are cognizant of data privacy, and shouldn’t be penalized for the use of modern technology.

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Mt. Vernon Officials address migrants coming to Southern Illinois – WSILTV (Harrisburg)

Johnson County Sheriff Pete Sopczak asked his county’s board to pass an ordinance requiring prior notification before any migrant is dropped off. Johnson County would be following in the footsteps of Aurora, which passed an ordinance requiring at least five days’ notice to the city for a bus planning to transport migrants. “You can’t just show up at two o’clock in the morning when no one’s around and dump ’em off. And now what are these guys gonna do,” Sopczak asked.

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Pritzker to announce additional $182 million in upcoming budget for migrants – Center Square

In total, the governor’s office said the officials estimated $321 million is needed for this calendar year on top of previous committed funds. Taxpayers already spent more than $500 million on the migrant crisis in 2023. Gov. JB Pritzker announced in November an additional $160 million. In Thursday’s announcement of more money for the coming fiscal year, Pritzker said without action from the federal government, “it’s clear the state, county, and city will have to do more to keep people safe.”

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Illinois to spend another $160M on Chicago migrant crisis – WQRF (Rockford)

The Governor’s Office announced the plan after long-term planners determined and additional $321 million is needed to maintain shelter and services for migrants for the remainder of the year. In addition, Cook County taxpayers will kick in an additional $70 million for the joint funding plan, totaling $250 million. The funding is in addition to $478 million the state has spent since Chicago declared itself a “sanctuary city” from U.S. immigration laws, and attracted migrants who illegally crossed the southern U.S. border.

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Illinois’ corporate income tax rate now 2nd highest in U.S. – Center Square

Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski fears the report only signals more trouble for the Land of Lincoln. “This leadership doesn’t care,” he said. “In fact, they like it this way because they want more money to fund the initiatives they have. They didn’t seem to be very concerned when Boeing left or Caterpillar or Citadel. If they did, you would see them do something about lowering spending and lowering rat

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Customers pay for utilities’ lawyers and corporate donations. Advocates want to change that. – Capitol News IL

Consumer advocates are pushing for a change to state law that would bar utilities from collecting money from customers for those expenditures, liability insurance covering executives and for the cost associated with filing rate cases. The bill also explicitly bans charging customers for political contributions, a practice already disallowed in Illinois. The proposal, contained in Senate Bill 2885 and House Bill 5061, would also require public hearings whenever a gas, electric, water or sewer utility requests a rate increase.

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Mayors make their pitch for more state funding, extended pension ramp – WCIA (Champaign)

The state recently consolidated all police and fire pension accounts into just two separate accounts, cutting down on administrative fees. Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said extending the ramp could leave room for more positive reforms down the line. “It’s been a success story, but it needs time to evolve and grow,” Moore Wolfe said. “They’re not paying the fees, we’re not paying the fees, and we’re getting more bang for the buck.”

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Column: There’s always an answer, but not always the right one – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “Illinois has recently awarded a $4 billion, multi-year contract to a Pennsylvania firm to provide medical services to prison inmates…It’s a rare prison that provides a warm, welcoming and nurturing working environment for medical professionals who have multiple employment options. So what’s Wexford to do when even generous pay is not a sufficient incentive to draw applicants? What Illinois and Wexford have done — and probably will continue to do — is the best that it can under the sorry circumstances, knowing that it won’t be enough and that criticism and lawsuits will continue.”

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Measure would make parents abusers for denying children sex changes – Center Square

State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray proposed House Bill 4876 that would amend the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act to say an “abused child” is one whose parents deny abortion services, or “gender-affirming services.” A measure Gov. JB Pritzker signed last year amending the Reproductive Health Act doesn’t define “gender-affirming services,” but does describe the treatment of gender dysphoria “or the affirmation of an individual’s gender identity or gender expression.”

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Senators Rose and Halpin share priorities for the 2025 Illinois state budget – WICS (Springfield)

State Sen. Chapin Rose wants a balanced budget, but with a billion dollar deficit, Rose is concerned on how that can even be. “The questions we’re going to be asking is, ‘how do you plan, Governor Pritzker, to close that Gap? Who’s back are you going to shift this on to,’ he said. “As always, every new budget year we go into we’re looking for places where we can find common ground, but if we’re going to be hitting the developmentally disabled to pay for all this immigrant spending then you’re not going to find it from our party.”

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Illinois Municipal League proposes legislative agenda ‘Moving Cities Forward’ – WGEM (Quincy)

One item is to allow downstate cities to bring down their police and firefighter pension annual liability payments. They currently have to pay 90%of their actuarial liability payments by the end of Municipal Fiscal Year 2040. A bill would extend that payment schedule until the end of MFY 2050. “This would provide immediately relief to and our taxpayers who continue to face increasing pension payments,” said Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen.

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Illinois American Water seeks rate hike that would add $24 a month to average bill – Daily Herald*

Illinois American Water is one of just two private water utilities in the state, providing water and wastewater services to approximately 1.3 million customers. While consumer advocacy group Citizens Utility Board says the potential hike is “excessive and severe,” the utility said the rate increase request reflects $557 million in water and wastewater system investments to be made through 2025.

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Illinois bill would give tax credit to residents fleeing states with abortion, gender-affirming care bans – The Hill

Legislation filed by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy would create the $500 income tax credit. The benefit would be available only to taxpayers who permanently relocate to Illinois from a state with more stringent abortion laws or laws that restrict access to other “lawful health care,” including gender-affirming care, for the purposes of either providing or receiving treatment.

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Public Guardian Raises Concerns About DCFS Care for Kids Awaiting Placement: ‘It’s Devastating’ – WTTW (Chicago)

The Department of Children and Family Services previously eliminated 500 residential beds under former Gov. Bruce Rauner and has yet to make up for those lost services. “They promised that in return, they would expand therapeutic foster care, which is a great idea,” Cook County Public Guardian Charles Golbert said. “But the problem is the community-based services don’t exist. So, Gov. Pritzker was just trumpeting 80 new placements, that’s great. That’s a great start. I applaud that. But they have hundreds and hundreds of more placements to go.”

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Task force to explore ranked choice voting in Illinois criticized for partisanship – Center Square

The Ranked-Choice and Voting Systems Task Force is expected to evaluate the current state of Illinois’ election systems and discuss the process of implementing ranked choice voting for Illinois’ 2028 presidential primaries. It will also facilitate an accounting for how the state certifies certain election systems and equipment because supporters said 30% of Illinois’ counties are utilizing outdated voting machines and systems that are vulnerable to election security threats.

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Republicans urge no new projects, tax hikes ahead of Pritzker’s budget address – Center Square

Gov. JB Pritzker said he wants next week’s speech to be a big reveal. He said the bottom line is “more of what we care about…Investing in education, investing in early childhood education and child care and early intervention and making sure, by the way, at that on the other end of the K-12 pipeline that they are also getting a great higher education.”

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Rules for Illinois’ Paid Leave for All Workers Act on hold amid concerns – Center Square

The Illinois Municipal League’s Brad Cole promoted legislation to exempt municipalities. “We think that this is something, not unlike all the private businesses and other entities out there, it’s going to have a financial impact,” Cole said. “Also, just the administrative impact on local governments. Some of these communities are very small. They don’t have the big back office to do stuff and it’s going to be tough to comply.”

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Municipal leaders call for larger share of Illinois income taxes – Center Square

The Illinois Municipal League’s “Moving Cities Forward” agenda calls for the restoration of the Local Government Distributive Fund to 10%. CEO Brad Cole said the increase should be included in the next state budget. “The difference is about a billion dollars a year, so if you look at some of the things that state funds have been spent on in recent years, that is being paid for on the backs of residents of communities who are not getting the full share of LGDF,” Cole said.

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Chicago should use all federal COVID funds before hiking taxes for housing problems – Illinois Policy

“The city of Chicago still has hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act…The fact that only a fraction of these funds has been spent after years does not inspire confidence that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s latest $100 million tax hike proposal will be effectively deployed to combat the city’s homelessness crisis, especially when many of the federal funds available could be deployed for these purposes but have not been put to use.”

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‘Once and for all’: SCOTUS asked to strike down IL ‘assault weapons’ ban, end ‘defiance’ from states, courts – Cook County Record

Attorneys representing the National Association for Gun Rights, the National Shooting Sports Federation, and the Firearms Policy Coalition, with the Illinois State Rifle Association and others, filed three separate petitions asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in now to end the “defiance” of Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois Democrats and judges in Illinois and elsewhere who, the petitioners say, have all but thumbed their nose at recent Supreme Court decisions upholding Americans’ rights to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment.

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State Sen. John Curran says Pritzker must ‘correct course’ in upcoming budget address – WCIA (Champaign)

“The budget is a list of priorities,” Curran said. “The governor in his time has prioritized the non Citizen community, and in his in his six years in office, that has gone from a $1 million a year annual spend to over $1 billion a year spent in that category. The governor has definitely placed that at the top of the priority list ahead of Illinois residents. That’s where the course correction needs to happen.”

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Rep. Buckner: “We have to use our advantage” when pushing for federal immigration reform – WCIA (Champaign)

State Rep. Kam Buckner is saying it’s time for the state use all the tools it has to try and make that change happen, including pressuring Democrat leadership in Washington D.C. by threatening to pass on the Democratic National Convention. “We got to figure out what we’re willing to leverage and align with, in order to make sure that we have the resources that we need,” he said.

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Column: Pritzker’s pardon puts old murder case back on front burner – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “Though released from prison in 2004, 72-year-old Randy Steidl recently learned Gov. JB Pritzker granted him a pardon based on ‘innocence’ in mid-December. One question that comes to mind is whether Steidl’s co-defendant — Herbert Whitlock — will receive a similar pardon, and if so, when…(former Illinois State Police Lt. Mike) Callahan had a serious falling-out with his superiors over whether to proceed. The dispute ultimately prompted him to retire after 25 years and write a book titled Too Politically Sensitive about what occurred.”

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Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison: We can put an end to Illinois’ soft-on-crime policies at the polls – Chicago Tribune*

“Let’s enforce our laws. Let’s punish people who commit crimes, and let’s make sure we give our police officers the tools they need to keep our neighborhoods safe. We don’t need barricades. We need better leadership…Their soft-on-crime policies are destroying our communities, and the people most hurt by their bad leadership are the very people they supposedly are trying to help.”

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Landlord Pushes Tenants Out Despite Getting State Money – Illinois Answers Project

While federal and state programs received praise from some advocates for quickly delivering rental assistance, that speed came at the cost of little oversight and enforcement, critics say. Bob Glaves, executive director of the Chicago Bar Foundation, said that “the rules of these programs make it clear that the money is to be used solely to cover the rent of tenants in need. But with thousands of tenants in need, agencies like [the Illinois Housing Development Authority] and the [city’s] housing department don’t have the capacity to follow up on whether landlords are playing fair.”

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Bill filed to loosen liability for IL digital privacy law – WCIA (Champaign)

Due to the current law, Meta paid Illinois users more than half a billion dollars in 2020 for using facial recognition technology on Facebook. That lawsuit is just one of more than 1,500 lawsuits filed under the law, mostly affecting small businesses. With a newly proposed amendment, BIPA violation claims against a company would be limited to a per-person basis, rather than a per-collection basis.

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Ex-Madigan aide sentenced to 30 months in prison for obstruction of justice attempt, perjury – Capitol News IL

Tim Mapes, who didn’t testify in his own defense during trial, chose to make a statement before the judge handed down his sentence, saying he was proud of the decades he put into public service in Illinois government. “I also recognize that many people in the state of Illinois have lost faith in their government,” Mapes said. “And that breaks my heart.”

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Democrats Might Need a Plan B for the White House. Here’s What It Looks Like. – Politico

The other top prospects have already been playing the long game in anticipation of such a moment, building national brands and burnishing their reputations as team players. Blue-state Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and JB Pritzker of Illinois have been among the most energetic surrogates, which will serve them well as they seek the allegiance of convention delegates.

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Aurora will bond to support casino development – The Bond Buyer

In its current form, Aurora’s Hollywood Casino occupies a barge tethered near downtown on the Fox River. The city wants to build a brand new casino resort about five miles away, near an outlet mall and an exit to Interstate 88, about 35 miles from Chicago. The total cost of the project is estimated at $360 million. Aurora officials want to loan the casino operator, Penn Entertainment (PENN), $50 million up front.

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Bill introduced to legalize psilocybin in Illinois to treat mental health – WICS (Springfield)

The legislation, known as the CURE ACT (Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act), aims to tackle treatment-resistant conditions such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, substance abuse, eating disorders, and other mental health conditions. Senate Bill 3695 would not allow for the sale, use, or personal possession of psilocybin in Illinois, but would establish the Illinois Psilocybin Advisory Board under the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation which would create a training program, ethical standards, and licensing requirements.

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Insurers Would Be Required to Cover Expanded Infertility Care Under Proposed Illinois Laws – WTTW (Chicago)

Several before the Illinois General Assembly seek to expand access to fertility treatments, including explicitly stating that covered services include preimplantation genetic screening, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other procedures, as well as weight loss medicine and glucose treatments that can help with fertility. Another measure requires insurers to cover elective egg preservation.

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Underachiever: Illinois lags nation in jobs, but growth potential is high – Illinois Policy

Payrolls throughout the state continued to grow in 2023 and finally surpassed pre-pandemic levels despite a shrinking labor force – a truly impressive feat. But data from the Census Bureau, IRS and multiple moving companies shows the state’s labor force is shrinking and unemployment levels are on the rise. The state’s unemployment rate has increased for five consecutive months and now sits at 4.8%, the third highest in the nation.

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Democrats flexed muscles in passing out pork in Springfield – Chicago Tribune/MSN

State budget records and interviews with rank-and-file lawmakers point to breakdowns of roughly $1 million for each House Democrat and $2 million for each Senate Democrat drawn from two pools of cash totaling nearly $156 million. Former Gov. Jim Edgar  said in an interview that he had never seen a more one-sided distribution of local legislative projects. “If you’re excluding Republican legislators on these projects, then you’re excluding geographic areas in the state from getting anything, and I think that’s a mistake.”

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Belvidere goes from loser to winner with idled Stellantis plant reopening – CBS2 (Chicago)

“It is exceptional. It’s the one singular story,” said University of Illinois professor Dr. Robert Bruno, who is also an industry expert and author. “It is truly the lone case in American economic and labor history. The workers made that happen. Never before has the UAW, through its collective bargaining process, been able to reopen a facility, pour millions of dollars into the facility and create thousands of jobs.”

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Developer says banning single-family zoning in Illinois would end ‘American Dream’ – Center Square

House Bill 4795, introduced by state Rep. Kam Buckner, would ban single-family only zoning in cities with populations over 100,000, which he said is only eight cities in Illinois. Charlie Farner, owner of Tentac Enterprises, said, “The bottom line, whether you’re Republican, Democrat or Independent, is let our local communities do what’s best for our communities. We know what’s best and here you have the state coming in, ‘Nope we are going to broad-brush this thing.’”

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Illinois Senate GOP call for end of free undocumented healthcare services – WAND (Decatur)

The Pritzker administration now projects the services could cost $773 million since enrollees may see $250 co-pays for nonemergency in-patient hospitalizations. The state has also instituted a 10% charge for nonemergency outpatient services. But state Sen. Dave Syverson said, “We’ve been hearing from families who are taking their children or loved ones to the emergency rooms who are having to sit and wait for 6 to 8 hours to get treated because of the fact that we have so many non-citizens that are now getting their health care through the emergency rooms.”

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Illinois plans to add more than 1,000 new public EV chargers – Chicago Tribune*

Illinois electric vehicle officer Megha Lakhchaura, who was hired a year and a half ago, acknowledged that Illinois wasn’t a top-10 state for public EV chargers in the third quarter of 2023. “We need to do far better,” she said. EV sales in Illinois grew 60% from 2022 to 2023, compared with 50% nationally, with the total number of registered EVs in the state now at 94,000.

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Proposed Illinois bill would slash property taxes in some districts without taking funding from schools – WQAD (Davenport)

The bill, discussed by Rep. Dan Ugaste and Rep. Tim Ozinga would create an Education Property Tax Relief Fund. This fund would cover a portion of the school district property taxes owed in qualifying districts, giving taxpayers relief while maintaining funding for schools. Ozinga said rising property taxes have driven businesses out of disadvantaged communities.

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Missouri legalized recreational marijuana a year ago. It’s affecting the Metro East. – St. Louis Public Radio

Missouri taxes recreational pot at 6%, and municipalities can take an additional 3%. Illinois takes up to 16.25%, depending on the product, and communities can levy 3.75% locally too. During fiscal 2023, Sauget made more than $55,000 per month on its 1.5% cannabis tax on recreational sales. During fiscal 2024, that figure dropped to about $23,000, said village Mayor Rich Sauget Jr. Collinsville, similarly, saw a 38% decrease from 2022 to 2023.

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Town of Normal to use surplus money on infrastructure, pensions and economic development – WGLT (Bloomington)

Normal plans to increase contributions to fire and police pensions by $3 million. Mayor Chris Koos said that will help the town meet its goal of full pension funding by 2040. “As we fund those pensions to that model, those dollars are earning interest, which helped bolster the pension. It really gets us to a point that if we can get to 100%, the pressure on our property taxes, which we use to fund pensions, could go down significantly.”

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Former lawmaker taken into custody amid delays to his corruption trial after sudden hospitalization – Capitol News IL

The arrest of former State Sen. Sam McCann caps a bizarre week that was supposed to have seen his corruption trial begin and end – until a last-minute hospitalization forced its postponement. No longer hospitalized, McCann was taken into custody Friday morning ahead of his federal corruption trial on charges he misused campaign funds to pay his mortgage and personal debts, buy personal vehicles, and even paid himself.

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Documentary focuses on political corruption in Illinois – Center Square

FILE - Rod BlagojevichDirector John Davies said maybe one of the reasons Illinois is the most corrupt state in the country is because there are more than 7,000 governmental bodies in Illinois. “It’s got more units of government than any other state in the nation, yet it’s only the fifth largest state. With that many offices of government, there are too many opportunities to steal.”

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Durbin Joins Booker, Colleagues To Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill To Help Improve Clearance Rates For Homicides And Gun Violence – RiverBender (Alton)

The bipartisan Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods Act (VICTIM Act) would establish a grant program at the Department of Justice to provide funding to State, Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies to hire, retain, and train detectives and victim services personnel to investigate unsolved homicides and support victims.

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Pritzker ‘smells a rat’ in report on Biden’s memory as congresswoman urges he resign – Center Square

Asked about Americans who read the report and have concerns about the president’s mental fitness, Gov. JB Pritzker said Joe Biden is fit to be president. “I’ve been with the president of the United States many times, he is on the ball,” Pritzker said. “The man knows more than most of us have forgotten. He knows so much more because he’s been in government for a number of years and has served in important positions.”

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Study shows Illinois students have made a full recovery since the pandemic in English and language arts – WJBC (Bloomington)

Stat school Superintendent Tony Sanders: “We actually have the best students in the nation. We really do,” said Sanders. “All the national reports indicate that Illinois is ahead of other states in our public education system. You look at the U.S. News and World Report report from last year that showed that we were ranked in the top ten in the nation for public education, K-12, you look at this report that Illinois continues to make gains.

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Proposal in Springfield seeks to stop evictions spurred by police calls – Chicago Sun-Times

The Community Safety Through Stable Homes Act calls for the repeal of local laws that penalize tenants for having contact with police and often require landlords to initiate eviction procedures. The measure comes months after Diamond Jones, filed a federal lawsuit against Richton Park, alleging she was forced out of the home she rented because of the village’s crime-free ordinance.

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Rich Miller: What will labor unions want for helping House Speaker Chris Welch oust Mary Flowers? – Chicago Sun-Times

“How can other House Democrats be assured that regularly voting for organized labor’s bills will prevent the same dire fate from happening to them? Yes, (state Rep. Mary) Flowers is an extreme case, but the unions and Welch are also trying to unseat Rep. Cyril Nichols, who has a 95% lifetime AFL-CIO voting record…I mean, I get it. This is Democratic Party ‘family business.’ Sometimes, things just gotta be done. ‘We had to sit still and take it,’ lamented the ‘Goodfellas’ movie character Henry Hill after his friend Tommy DeVito was whacked by the mob.”

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New podcast chronicles stories behind legislation introduced in the Illinois House – Center Square

The first episode of Capitol Crimes deals with Pam Knight, a child protection specialist for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, who was beaten while on duty in 2017 in Mount Carroll. As a result of Knight’s death, a law was passed in 2018 requiring law enforcement agencies “to make all reasonable efforts to assist” DCFS investigators when requested.

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Legislator urges Illinois’ school choice program be reinstated – Center Square

The program was opposed by public school unions. In praising the program’s sunset, the Illinois Education Association called it a “voucher scheme.” And, despite the program being privately funded in exchange for a tax credit, the IEA said it diverts taxpayer dollars away from public schools, even though public education spending in Illinois increases each year.

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Illinois manufacturers call for tax credits, scholarship plans to attract workers – WAND (Decatur)

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is supporting a plan to provide manufacturing companies a tax credit if they help pay student loan debt for their employees. Another plan could allow high school students to go to community college for free if they enroll in a manufacturing program. Students participating in apprenticeships or union manufacturing programs would also qualify for the assistance.

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Parental Rights Group Files Complaint Against Illinois Math and Science Academy For Racist Black- And Hispanic-Only Programs – The Federalist

At issue in Parents Defending Education’s complaint is alleged racial discrimination by IMSA’s Brotherhood Sister Circle (BHSC), which provides so-called “Culturally, Linguistically, and Economically Diverse” students an environment to “learn about the history and current system of oppression in America” and “develop relational leadership skills/stereotype management to confront related issues.”

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Campaign donations, quest for new power generation fueled new Illinois nuclear power law – Peoria Journal Star/Yahoo

Energy companies lobbied for the bill and donated tens of thousands of dollars to House and Senate leadership and politicians on both sides of the aisle during the bill’s lifespan in Springfield. “Money is interested in our elections but it is also interested in promoting access, phone calls returned, meetings set up, an opportunity to persuade,” said Kent Redfield, a professor emeritus from the University of Illinois-Springfield. “It’s easy to see something like this in a Vistra. They have a substantial amount of money and they’ve been contributing over a long period of time.”

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Lion Electric to get nearly $50 million in EV incentives from State of Illinois — much more than expected – Crain’s*

Lion Electric is getting nearly $50 million in state incentives for its electric-bus factory outside Joliet, significantly more than originally expected. Lion began manufacturing buses in late 2022 and completed a 900,000-square-foot factory in Channahon last year. To receive the payroll tax credits, Lion will have to create 608 full-time jobs by the end of next year and 1,228 jobs by the end of 2028, according to recently filed state documents. The company declined to say how many workers it has in Channahon now.

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Illinois GOP lawmakers lay out spring session priorities – Center Square

“First and foremost, we need to hold the majority party accountable to spending,” House Minority Leader Tony McCombie said. “No new taxes, we certainly do not, and the voters have spoken that they do not want a graduated income tax, so that will be a number one priority.” McCombie said addressing state agency mismanagement and dysfunction will be high on their session list. McCombie is also looking at meeting the party’s obligations from the 2019 capitol bill, which includes $41.8 million in projects that haven’t been released.

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Police group raises concerns about Illinois’ criminal justice policies – Center Square

Illinois Fraternal Order of Police President Chris Southwood said what needs to happen is for prosecutors to prosecute crimes. He also said a recent story in Dolton of a defendant facing murder charges awaiting trial on electronic monitoring being suspected of a mass shooting is proof the SAFE-T Act provision allowing two eight-hour periods of free movement time per week for such defendants is proving to be dangerous.

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For Pritzker, the DNC could be a dress rehearsal for a presidential run – Crain’s*

Pritzker understands how to serve as the happy warrior for Biden even as theories about his political ambitions persist, according to U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Evanston. “That’s something that J.B. will manage well,” said Schakowsky, who once competed with Pritzker for her House seat. “He knows what it is to be a surrogate. He has no intention of trying to outstrip the president of the United States.”

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Debt and Unfunded Liabilities – American Institute for Economic Research

“Just a few short weeks after the CARES Act passed, members of the (Illinois) state senate and the Senate President mailed a $46 billion federal bailout request to Congress. As Wirepoints reported, most of the requested funds ‘amount[ed] to a national bailout of Illinois’ pre-pandemic failures.’ This included $15 billion for a ‘no-strings-attached block grant,’ $6 billion for the state unemployment trust fund, $10 billion for state pensions, and $9.6 billion in ‘unrestricted aid to Illinois municipalities, again for pensions.'”

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Willie Wilson: Public sector union bosses are the real threat to democracy – Chicago Tribune*

In 2022, Illinois voters enshrined collective bargaining into the state constitution, effectively giving union leaders unprecedented power over our elected representatives. Specifically: “No law shall be passed that interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively.” The question must be asked: How can democracy work when the people we elect do not have the power to govern?

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A handful of politicians switch parties, citing extremism. Others question their motives. – Daily Herald*

Since the 1990s, at least 10 suburban politicians have changed parties. Jim Zay, the DuPage Republican Party chairman and the longest-serving county board member, suggests switching parties is an opportunistic move. “They’re taking advantage of this situation where they think, ‘The Republican Party’s done in DuPage, and so I’m going to jump on board the Democratic side here and run for office and nobody will know,’” Zay said. “And I think the voters in DuPage County are a lot smarter than that.”

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Report: Unfunded cost of retirement benefits reaches $1.14 trillion – Center Square

The State of New Jersey’s unfunded liability for post-retirement benefits other than pensions in state health care plans reached $174.9 billion in 2022. That was the highest in the country, according to a report by the American Legislative Exchange Council. California ($140.2 billion), New York ($133.2 billion), Texas ($120.2 billion) and Illinois ($103.1 billion) rounded out the top five states with the highest liabilities.

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In crisis, she went to an Illinois facility. Two years later, she still isn’t able to leave – Capitol News IL

In crisis, she went to an Illinois facility. Two years later, she still isn’t able to leaveAdvocates hoped the state would become less reliant on large institutions for people with developmental disabilities when they filed a lawsuit in 2005, alleging that Illinois’ failure to adequately fund community living options ended up segregating people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from society by forcing them to live in institutions. Negotiations resulted in a consent decree, a court-supervised improvement plan. Now, the state has asked a judge to consider ending the consent decree, citing significant

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Illinois Math and Science Academy hosts race-based student retreat, emails reveal – Parents Defending Education

The event titled Brotherhood Sister Circle (BHSC) Retreat states that as part of the schools Equity and Excellence Policy, its goal is to “provide Black and Latinx students with additional academic resources and social/emotional support to ensure they have the tools to be successful at IMSA and the global world.” In an email chain that includes a student from the yearbook staff and another DEI staff member, the school’s DEI director asks for “Black/ Latinx photographers so that pictures can be taken throughout the day.”

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Kam Buckner introduces bill that would ban single-family-only zoning in most Illinois cities – Crain’s*

Chicago homes Logan SquareA new bill in Springfield would ban single-family-only zoning across eight cities in Illinois, following similar measures that have passed in Oregon, California and Washington state. On Feb. 5, state Rep. Kam Buckner introduced the Single-Family Zoning Ban Act, which would prohibit zoning areas exclusively for single-family residential use. The bill would phase in that ban, applying to cities with a population between 100,000 and 500,000 by June 1, 2025, and cities with more than 500,000 residents by June 1, 2026. The Illinois Association of Realtors is

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With tax credit scholarships expiring soon, schools and parents scramble to fund students’ tuition – Chicago Tribune/MSN

More than 9,000 students attended private schools in Illinois with financial support from the tax credit scholarships during the 2022-23 school year, according to officials. “It’s the schools who serve the greatest number of low-income students who are now going to get the biggest hit,” said Greg Richmond, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago. “Not

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The Illinois State Board of Education finalized a literacy plan. – Chalkbeat Chicago

A student with dark hair holds a book covering their face while sitting at their desk. The book reads "Zora and Me the Cursed Ground."The almost 200-page plan is a hybrid between guidance and a workbook, designed to help pre-K-12 educators teach reading using evidence-based and developmentally appropriate practices. The plan is not a mandate for schools to follow and doesn’t require schools to buy new curriculum or instruction materials for educators. The state board has recommended $3 million for fiscal year 2025 to implement the literacy plan, but advocates hope

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IL Attorney General files complaint against company behind New Hampshire AI election scam calls – WCIA (Champaign)

Along with the Attorneys General to Washington D.C. and 49 other states, Kwame Raoul is warning the Texas-based company Life Corp to stop all unlawful robo-calls immediately. In a letter sent Tuesday, the coalition of attorneys general said the company could be found in violation of several state and federal laws if they continue, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Truth in Caller ID Act.

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Illinois legislators pitch ideas for property tax relief, child tax credit – Center Square

State Reps. Dan Ugaste and Tim Ozinga discussed their idea found in House Bill 4866 to lower property taxes in the state by increasing state funding for local pensions. Separately, state Sen. Omar Aquino said the state-based child tax credit lawmakers are proposing this year will put money back into the pockets of many Illinois families. And a separate measure from state Sen. Mike Simmons would provide up to $700 in a child tax credit.

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The winner of a $4 billion Illinois contract has a history of preventable deaths in state prisons – WBEZ (Chicago)

Stateville Correctional CenterIllinois prison officials are standing by their recent decision to award a new $4 billion contract to the state’s troubled prison health care provider, despite a new report filed in federal court that describes preventable deaths, poor care and neglect inside state prisons. The report found that half the medical positions the company is responsible for providing in the prisons are unfilled, and a review of 107 inmate deaths found nearly 900 issues with how patients and cases were handled.

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Northern Illinois University dramatically expands no-tuition program for incoming students – NBC5 (Chicago)

DeKalb’s Northern Illinois University have dramatically expanded a program that ensures qualifying students will have their tuition and general fees covered for their first year of school. According to a press release, students who have an overall GPA of 3.0 or above, and whose families have an adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less qualify for the program. Previously, the income cutoff was $75,000, according to the press release.

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Will County town bans recreational use of nitrous oxide – FOX32 (Chicago)

All members of the Manhattan Village Board unanimously supported the ordinance, which removes nitrous oxide, also called laughing gas and whippets, from store shelves in the village. The affected establishments include a vape shop, a liquor store, and a grocery store. It’s a first-of-its-kind measure in Will County and possibly across Illinois.

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Progressive state lawmakers push to end subminimum wage for tipped workers across Illinois – Chicago Sun-Times

According to the proposal, the subminimum wage would be phased out over a two-year period and would require that service charges, such as tips, go to employees, not employers. It would also require that tips bring workers to the full minimum wage on a per shift basis, instead of weekly or biweekly. Employers who violated the provisions would be fined up to $1,500 per day for each violation. The governor’s office would not publicly say whether Gov. JB Pritzker supports the plan.

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Proposed Illinois legislation would shed light on homicide clearance rate – CBS2 (Chicago)

Illinois HB 4754, the Homicide Data Transparency Act, would require law enforcement agencies regularly to publish how many of their homicides resulted in arrests and charges – not to publish the confusing “exceptionally cleared” statistic that can mean a case is closed without answers. “The clearance rate metric is extremely opaque,” state Rep. Kam Buckner said.

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Illinois-based food-science organization weighs in on proposed food additives bill – Center Square

Bryan Hitchcock, chief science and technology officer with the Institute of Food Technologists, said that some businesses may consider what products they produce and distribute to Illinois, or they may opt to leave the state entirely depending on their business plans and priorities. “Compliance is going to be very costly, including researching alternative ingredients, developing and testing alternative products, navigating higher ingredient costs, designing new labels and setting up new supply chains.”

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Switching from tipped to minimum wage would be ‘catastrophic,’ restaurateur says – Center Square

State Rep. Mike Coffey, who owns several restaurants, said while there may be good intentions for such a move, if passed into law, it would hurt consumers, employers and employees across the board. “All we do is between energy prices that are going up at a rapid rate, between food costs and everything going up, between the minimum wage, all they’re doing is ensuring that more and more businesses in the state of Illinois go out of business.”

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Report: Illinois has 5th highest amount of post-employment benefit liabilities – Center Square

The American Legislative Exchange Council released its “Other Post-Employment Benefit Liability” report, which ranked Illinois 46th in the country. It shows that Illinois has about $103 billion in unfunded post-employment liabilities, including health insurance, life insurance and Medicare Supplement Insurance. That is on top of around $140 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.

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State Supreme Court denies state lawmaker’s bid to vacate gun ban ruling – Capitol News IL

State Rep. Dan Caulkins has argued that because certain individuals can still own banned weapons legally if they get a special endorsement on their firearm owners identification card while others cannot, the law constitutes “special legislation.” While the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court both declined to block enforcement of the law temporarily, a gun rights group has said it will appeal to the full U.S. high court to challenge the law’s legality on federal constitutional grounds.

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IL should divert state money from East St. Louis to fund police, fire pensions, boards say – Belleville News-Democrat*

The city government has not contributed to the police and fire pension funds since September. East St. Louis already had been behind in funding the pensions by millions of dollars when it stopped its contributions, officials said. City Manager Robert Betts said intercepting roughly $7 million in state money and shifting it to the pension funds would be devastating for the city, triggering layoffs and cuts in services. “The city is bracing itself for the intercept.”

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Families and schools are rattled by end of state private school scholarship program – WBEZ (Chicago)

The exterior of St. Frances of Rome Catholic School in Cicero Illinois on Jan. 14, 2024.A lifeline may come from Springfield, where a handful of Chicago-area state representatives will push to revive the program with the backing of Republican colleagues. Their proposed legislation could extend the program for five years. It would also reduce the tax credit amount and individual giving cap from $1 million to $500,000, sharpen the focus on lower-income students, and shrink it to a $50 million program.

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General Assembly considers new gun and cold case legislation – WGNTV (Chicago)

One item being considered would allow families to ask for a new investigation in a cold case. The second would force law enforcement to publish data related to homicides and investigations — including how many are solved. State Rep. Kam Buckner says both pieces of legislation will work toward building trust between the community and police — and give victims’ families a chance at getting the justice the deserve.

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32 school districts awarded Property Tax Relief Grants – WAND (Decatur)

The grant program is part of the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act. It lets school districts reduce local property taxes for two consecutive years and replace that revenue with state funds. The $49.3 million in fiscal year 2024 grants will result in $54.2 million in property tax relief for Illinois residents. A district’s grant amount becomes a permanent part of its EBF Base Funding Minimum going forward.

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Journalism’s “extinction event” will lead to new and better choices for news – Da Techguy’s Blog

“…(T)he Illinois Local Journalism Task Force, created by legislation in 2021, is betting on the dinosaurs, that is, traditional media. Last week, the task force issued its recommendations for journalism in the Prairie State. ‘Its proposals are mostly about getting taxpayers to pony up and putting government in control,’ Mark Glennon says in Wirepoints, ‘[with] no mention of journalism’s own failures.'”

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Illinois No. 2 in the nation for gas taxes – Illinois Policy

At 66.5 cents per gallon, Illinois motorists can expect to pay $325 a year in state gas taxes alone based on American Petroleum Institute gas usage estimates. Illinois has had automatic annual gas tax hikes since 2019 when Gov. JB Pritzker and state lawmakers doubled it and built in automatic increases tied to inflation, with the next one coming July 1.

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U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Claude Cummings Jr.: The Biden administration is fighting back against Big Tech – Chicago Tribune*

“The Biden administration recently shut down an effort spearheaded by Big Tech to use trade negotiations to override Congress’ efforts to end mega-platforms’ abuses of workers and consumers. Corporate lobbyists are now engaging in an all-out assault to try to bully and intimidate the administration into reversing course.”

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Union Scheme to Steal Everyone Else’s Money Goes to Court – National Review*

“Now, the state supreme courts in Texas and Arizona are about to hear cases that may fundamentally change how the activities of government labor unions are financed….Government unions weren’t happy with having to respect employees’ First Amendment rights or taxpayers’ pocketbooks, so they implemented another scheme, ‘release time,’ which forces the public to pay union salaries.”

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Ex-Illinois state legislator going on trial on tax counts stemming from Madigan probe – Tribune News Services/MSN

Former state legislator Annazette Collins, 61, who worked as a ComEd lobbyist after her career in Springfield ended more than a decade ago, was indicted in 2021 on federal charges alleging she underreported income and failed to file federal income tax returns for her lobbying and consulting firm. Collins’ legislative career was also dogged by controversy; she was one of several lawmakers whose legislative scholarship awards were under review by a federal grand jury.

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Illinois FOP president criticizes controversial traffic stop bill – WCIA (Champaign)

The bill would prohibit law enforcement from pulling people over just for speeding, improper lane usage, obstructed windshields, defective headlights, expired registration stickers, or failure to wear safety belts. Illinois FOP State Lodge President Chris Southwood described the law as one of the most anti-police proposals he’s seen. “How many lives will be lost if we can’t stop dangerous drivers?” Southwood said. “Such a law will only benefit lawbreakers, and common sense must have taken a vacation when this bill was drafted.”

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Illinois lawmakers lay out their plans to fight poverty – Center Square

Illinois is in the top 10 for states with the most residents living under the poverty line, leading members of both parties to call for changes.  The national poverty rate, or those earning less than $14,580, is 11.5% and according to World Population Review, Illinois has nearly 1.5 million people, or 12.1% of the state’s population, living in poverty.

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Commentary: Actually, Illinois is a great place to do business right now. – Peoria Journal Star

John Atkinson, of Intersect Illinois, the state’s business attraction organization: ” Illinois offers a large, skilled workforce of over six million people, half of which have bachelor’s degrees or higher. Illinois’ astounding 244 higher education institutions are among the best in the world. The University of Illinois alone graduates more engineers each year than MIT, Stanford and Caltech combined. Beyond that, our community college system is the third largest in the nation. That means Illinois is providing customized training to students of all ages to ensure they gain the skills that are most in demand now.”

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Video: Illinois Senate GOP Leader John Curren Criticizes Pritzker Handling of Migrant Crisis – WGNTV (Chicago)

“The governor has extended an invitation to the migrants, and this started six years ago when he first took office,” Curren said. “He’s been passing policies of rolling out the welcome mat throughout his six years in office, and that’s where we’re at right now.” Curren further called for a review of the state’s spending on the migrants, as he sees the governor using his executive orders to draw funds from other parts of the state budget to cover migrant spending.

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Manteno residents plan to amend lawsuit against China electric-vehicle battery maker – Center Square

Attorney Robby Dube said Gotion may be avoiding ownership of the property because of tax reasons, liability reasons or even concerns about potential legislation banning ownership of domestic businesses by foreign adversaries. “Gotion’s whole argument is, ‘Well we are an American company because they are incorporated in America.’ But their parent company is incorporated in China and we believe we have the documents to show it is a [Chinese Communist Party-controlled] entity. But if the legislation is broad enough, and I think it needs to be in order to protect American interests, they could get snagged in that legislation,” said

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Are Bankruptcies of Some U.S. States in the Future? – Mises Trust

Illinois and New Jersey are examples of a future state bankruptcy or default on a future bond debt obligation payment. California budget deficits under Governor Gavin Newsom are proliferating as part of the spending trend. Financial press coverage of these states’ financial problems is available. New York, Connecticut, Michigan, and other states are heading to future defaults and possible bankruptcy unless budget and policy reform is enacted.

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The Illinois Estate Tax Code: Will Change Finally Happen? – Vermilion County First

“It was back in 2003 that the State of Illinois decoupled from the federal level of how “Estate Tax” is handled. Commonly known as the ‘Death Tax,’ it applies to family businesses as well as farms. But it’s on the farm where most conversation about this has occurred. While families of the owner of farmland owned by a deceased party are not subject to the Estate Tax, according to the federal level, until the property’s appraised value reaches the $13 million mark; in Illinois the tax kicks in at the $4 million mark, causing many families to have to sell

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Fight over tipped wage is moving to Springfield – Crain’s*

Fresh off a victory at Chicago’s City Hall, proponents of eliminating the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers have their eyes set on Springfield.  A bill set to be introduced in the General Assembly next week by state Rep. Elisabeth Hernandez, D-Cicero, and supported by the One Fair Wage group, would go a step further and eliminate the tipped wage statewide by Jan. 1, 2025, effectively forcing restaurants across Illinois to pay their workers a higher minimum hourly rate than Chicago restaurants by next year.

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Video: Illinois offering towns grants to help cover costs of migrants – FOX News

Glen Ellyn Village President Mark Senak said of his town declining a grant to house migrants, “We have to deal with the impact that this would have on our schools, and as I understand it right now the migrants don’t have work permits that would allow them to be gainfully employed. So, there were a lot of holes in that plan, and until I get some answers to those questions, I’m not going to commit my village to that effort.”

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Southern Illinois cities talk about the potential influx of illegal immigrants – The Southern Illinoisan

In Marion, Communications and Market Director Rachel Stroud confirmed there is no policy or procedure in place for handling an influx of illegal immigrants. Stroud redirected questions to the Williamson County Emergency Managment Agency (EMA), saying the agency might have a plan. When asked what Williamson County would do if buses of illegal immigrants were to start arriving in the county, with immigrants needing resources, the EMA Director Brian Burgess said, “The county believes this is more of a municipal issue.”
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Illinois serves up ‘gift’ to criminals with new bill that would further tie cops’ hands: retired chief – FOX News

“They want to turn this into firemen,” retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said of Illinois lawmakers. “Firemen, they wait in the station until the call comes out. That’s not a criticism, that’s just what they do. Well then, you know what they’ll want policemen to do? Just go find a parking lot and sit there all day long, and answer your radio calls. Period. That’s it. Don’t do any patrol. Don’t be any aggressive patrol. Don’t do any preventative patrol,” he said.

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Illinois lawmakers could allow school safety officers to deter crime, support students – WAND (Decatur)

Under House Bill 4216, Illinois school districts could have the ability to hire fully-trained school safety officers starting January 1, 2025.  This legislation could require the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board (ILETSB) to create a new course on de-escalation, use of force, mental health awareness, officer wellness, child abuse and neglect, and cultural competency.

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Illinois lawmaker proposes changes to the state’s biometric privacy law – Center Square

Senate Bill 2979  would limit the number of claims accrued under that scenario should an employee bring a lawsuit against a company for a violation of BIPA. If a certain biometric identifier is collected by the same employer in the same manner, only one violation would accrue. The measure would also modernize the manner in which written consent can be granted to include the use of electronic signatures.

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Copays take effect for immigrant health programs as cost estimates continue to decline – Capitol News IL

The programs, originally launched for those aged 65 and older in 2020 then expanded in waves, became a sticking point in state budget negotiations last year when Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration projected their single-year costs to exceed $1 billion. But current estimates now project the programs will cost $773 million in the current fiscal year. Those estimates, however, have declined by $60 million since August, the month following the Pritzker administration’s initial announcement of certain cost-saving measures.

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Ralph Martire: Illinois tax policy and the ability to help migrants – Daily Herald*

“The problem is Illinois’ tax system doesn’t generate enough revenue growth to cover the cost of maintaining the same level of public services from one fiscal year into the next. That’s no bueno, because over 94% of all state spending on services goes to the core areas of education, health care, human services and public safety. Which means state decision makers already need to reform revenue policy so it can generate the capacity to fund core services sustainably over time. That will ensure Illinois can also do what’s right from both a moral and fiscal standpoint: assist migrant families today

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Call me (maybe): Why isn’t Senator Tammy Duckworth picking up the phone? – Chicago Reader

 

Photo of Tammy Duckworth surrounded by quotes from constituents sharing their experiences trying to reach her office“I’ve been calling the senator,” emailed Cima Dairanieh. “Daily. For many weeks. I haven’t gotten a callback, email or letter. I also email her, daily.” In another email, Cara Piraino wrote that she’s called Duckworth multiple times a week since mid-October, but has gotten the recording directing constituents to contact the senator via her website “almost every time. I’ve only gotten through to a person twice in the past three months.” And Ashlee Stewack

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Column: Man who said he didn’t know too much, Tim Mapes is up for sentencing – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “’Tim Mapes (top aide to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan) accepts the jury’s verdict — though he disagrees with it and continues to maintain his innocence,’ his lawyers stated in their sentencing memorandum…But they also made an odd — bordering on weird — request, that Mapes be sentenced to ‘time served.’ That would be a credible request if Mapes had actually served any appreciable time in custody prior to his conviction. But he has not. A spokesman for the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s office speculated that Mapes’ lawyers are referring to a few hours he spent ‘being processed’

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Villages seek answers, state money after aging water mains repeatedly break – State Journal-Register (Springfield)

IEPA officials say that water main breaks of this magnitude are not that unusual in Illinois. “I Googled water main breaks in Illinois and I see Dixmoor, Warrenville, Western Springs, Park Forest, LaGrange, Litchfield (and) Schaumburg,” Gary Bingenheimer, section manager for the SRF program, said. “It happens all over the state in the wintertime, when the ground is freezing and thawing. It’s a very common occurrence.”

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Ford County Board to vote on ‘no-migrant’ declaration – Champaign News-Gazette

Ann Ihrke, chair of the county’s zoning committee, said the committee is proposing the declaration because members don’t feel the county has the means or facilities to care for immigrants. “I think we wanted people to know we don’t have the resources,” Ihrke said. “We have a very small-bed hospital and clinic. Those are valuable to people who live here and pay taxes,” but there isn’t much excess capacity.

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Illinois lawmakers could cap monthly inhaler costs this spring – WAND (Decatur)

The bill could cap the monthly cost of prescription inhalers at $25. People needing multiple inhalers per month would only pay $50. This change will not prevent health plans that already allow people to pay much lower co-pays. The proposal will not apply to inhalers available over the counter without a prescription. If signed into law, the price cap would take effect Jan. 1, 2025.

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Democratic leaders poised to revisit Biometric Information Privacy Act after court rulings – Capitol News IL

State Sen. Bill Cunningham, a high-ranking member of the Senate, said the proposal he filed this week strikes a balance between business groups’ concerns over the law and its original intent. “We think that the security restrictions embedded in (the law) are very important and we want to keep them in place, but we do want to address the way liability accrues so that businesses are not unfairly punished for technical violations of the act,” he said.

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Column: State law which erased cash bail appears to be working – Lake County News-Sun*

“Unlike his colleagues across Illinois, one state’s attorney who wholeheartedly was behind the SAFE-T Act and the Pre-Trial Fairness Act was Lake County’s Eric Rinehart…Rinehart’s office has been vigilant in filing ‘petitions for detention’ with county judges in order to hold defendants in jail. Most of those petitions, which show ‘clear and convincing evidence’ a detainable offense, have been approved by criminal court judges.”

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About face! Illinois politician who proposed banning many police traffic stops says he will drop the legislation – CWB Chicago

After state Rep. Justin Slaughter was summarily “pummeled on social media,” he said the law he tried to get passed was “more of a conversation starter.” The funny thing about all that is that Slaughter is the chair of the state House Judiciary-Criminal Committee. If he wanted to have a “conversation” about the subject, all he needed to do was schedule some hearings.

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Americans have disproportionately relocated to states that imposed the fewest and least severe Covid-19 mandates. – City Journal

Proportionately, New York lost the most from net domestic migration between April 2020 and July 2023 of any large state, shedding 4.4 percent of its April 2020 total. California lost the second-highest share (down 3 percent), and Illinois fared the third-worst, losing 2.8 percent of its 2020 population. Among the losers, Illinois was among the eight states with the longest mask mandates, and also among the relatively small number of states that imposed vaccine mandates.

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Measure giving farm families relief from Illinois’ estate tax gets bipartisan push – Center Square

“Our incomes are very similar to other occupations like nurses, police officers and firefighters, but unlike people in those honorable professions, our ability to maintain an income for our family comes from the farm,” Illinois Farm Bureau President Brian Duncan said. “And unfortunately we’re often faced with the decision to have to sell off part of our business to meet the tax obligation.”

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Effort to Remove Donald Trump From the Illinois Primary Ballot Continues in State Court – WTTW (Chicago)

Five residents who want former President Donald Trump removed from the Illinois primary ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol are taking their fight to the courts. The Trump objectors, working in concert with the group Free Speech for People, previously asked members of the Illinois State Board of Elections to remove him from the ballot, but the Board voted against such action.

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Springfield officials discuss how cannabis revenue is being used: business development and pension funds – WICS (Springfield)

The city of Springfield has a 3% tax on cannabis sales. Half of that generated revenue is being used to fund housing and business projects on the city’s east side, while the other half is being put towards police and fire pension debts. The city’s budget office said how much revenue the cannabis tax has brought to the city since 2020 is confidential.

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Democratic AGs including Raoul file brief supporting $15 minimum wage for federal contractors – Center Square

President Joe Biden’s executive order in April 2021 increased the minimum wage, which was set at $10.10 per hour in 2014. Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi challenged the validity of the executive order, alleging Biden exceeded his authority outlined in the Administrative Procedure Act and was unconstitutional under “the nondelegation doctrine and the Spending Clause,” according to the brief.

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IL Supreme Court says temp worker firms can be sued for collusion under state antitrust laws – Cook County Record

Justice P. Scott Neville explained that the justices interpreted five Antitrust Act sections, ultimately finding the “alleged agreement falls squarely within the realm of conduct so clearly anticompetitive that it violates antitrust laws without further examination under the rule of reason,” as outlined in a preceding section of the state’s Antitrust Ac.

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Column: Lawyer for local entrepreneur: Attorney general’s claim ‘legally deficient’ – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “The response/counter response represents the latest round in the tangled litigation that grew out of a $1.8 million grant the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services awarded to an enterprise overseen by (Champaign’s Sally) Carter. The grant was intended to fund social-service programs for young people in need. But the state claimed it never heard from Carter after she received the money.”

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State Sen. John Curran: Gov. JB Pritzker invited, then mismanaged Illinois’ migrant crisis – Chicago Tribune*

“This isn’t an argument about the value of immigration and the role it has played in building the United States of America. It’s a question of reality, of management and of what our already overtaxed residents can afford. The people of Illinois cannot afford the misplaced priorities, radical policies and grandiose promises of a governor seeking attention on the national stage. There is also no question as to who is going to be picking up his tab.”

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When DCFS makes mistakes, children die – Illinois Times (Springfield)

A review of public records issued between 2010 and 2024 shows that 176 children under the age of 13 have been killed after coming under the care of the department. Another 272 child deaths of children under the care of the department have resulted from undetermined causes. Children continue to die at a steady rate in cases where state child protectors are blamed for mistakes.

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Rep. Delia Ramirez on Immigration Policy, Congressional Conflict Over Bipartisan Border Deal – WTTW (Chicago)

Asked what Congress can do to help alleviate the migrant crisis in Chicago, Ramirez said, “Having adequate federal funding is what has allowed Chicago to welcome tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. When our federal government allocates the proper staff and funds necessary to compassionately welcome our new neighbors, we are able to accomplish far more than one municipality or state can muster by ourselves.”

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Opinion: Pritzker the pot pusher – Washington Examiner

“Illinois has very little to celebrate these days, with crime up and the state bleeding population to Republican-controlled jurisdictions. The pension system is the nation’s worst-funded. Perhaps the state’s many problems, all of them caused by poor government, explain the governor’s satisfaction that his fellow citizens are increasingly hooked on pot.”

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‘R U REAL Act’: U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky Files Bill To Regulate AI-Generated Calls – Patch Evanston

The Restrictions on Utilizing Realistic Electronic Artificial Language, or R U REAL, Act, would give the Federal Trade Commission about three months to add a new mandate to telemarketing rules to require telemarketers to disclose if they are using artificial intelligence to mimic a human at the beginning of any call or text message. It would also double the civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.

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Muslim scholar who’s a convicted child sex offender helps oversee Islamic boarding school in Elgin – Chicago Sun-Times

After he was convicted in 2016 of molesting a girl and sexually abusing a young woman, Mohammad Saleem was told by a judge that he’s no longer allowed “at or in the Institute of Islamic Education.” But Saleem still helps supervise the school he founded years ago. And though Illinois law bars child sex offenders from living within 500 feet of a school, Elgin police records show his current residence is “well within” that distance.

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Former DCFS worker: Staff, kids at risk with worker shortage – NPR Illinois

With an investigator vacancy rate of 21.2% and a five-year turnover rate of more than 20% statewide, according to an April 2022 report filed in federal court, state caseworkers and investigators at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services are expected to juggle caseloads far heavier than those outlined in a federal consent decree in the 1988 B.H. class action lawsuit.

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Illinois Senate higher ed co-chair: Higher education in Illinois has been ‘underfunded’ for two decades – Rock Island Dispatch Argus

The state legislature has created a commission to look at ways to create a new funding formula that would more equitably and sustainably distribute state funds to Illinois’ public universities. “It is staggering the deferred maintenance we have in our universities and colleges and I mean millions and millions of dollars,” state Rep. Dan Swanson said.

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Trump’s candidacy on the Illinois ballot should be decided by the courts, an elections board hearing officer says – Chicago Sun-Times

“It is impossible to imagine the Board deciding whether Candidate Trump is disqualified by Section 3 without the Board engaging in significant and sophisticated constitutional analysis,” wrote hearing officer Clark Erickson, a retired judge from Kankakee County who is a Republican. “All in all, attempting to resolve a constitutional issue within the expedited schedule of an election board hearing is somewhat akin to scheduling a two-minute round between heavyweight boxers in a telephone booth.”

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Illinois appeals courts see ‘dramatic increase’ in cases following elimination of cash bail – Chicago Tribune/MSN

From Sept. 18, when the law took effect, through the end of the year, more than 1,300 pretrial appeals of detention decisions were filed in the state’s five appellate districts, an increase that comes on top of the normal caseload. Since bail reform was implemented, Cook County’s appellate district notched the lowest number of pretrial appeals — 161.

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A private prison health care company accused of substandard care is awarded new contract in Illinois – WAND (Decatur)

Illinois has awarded a more than $4 billion prison medical care contract to the same company it’s used for three decades, despite multimillion-dollar lawsuits against the firm and statewide complaints alleging substandard care. The offer from Pittsburgh-based Wexford Health Sources also came in $673 million higher than one from VitalCore Health Strategies of Topeka, Kansas – the only two bidders on the state’s contract.

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IL bill would limit eminent domain power for CO2 pipeline companies – WCIA (Champaign)

The state’s unique geographical features make it prime real estate for the pipelines, which are meant to be buried underground and used as a storage space for excess carbon emissions. The proposals have faced strong public pushback from farmers, environmentalists and property owners, since the proposals are often tied to extensive attempts to dig up people’s land.

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Column: The No. 1 goal of powerful teachers’ unions across the country is to stamp out school choice. – Sturgis Journal (Michigan)

“Once in office, governors and mayors who took millions of dollars from teachers’ unions during election campaigns are loath to go against the unions’ wishes during contract negotiations. You don’t stiff those who brought you to the dance…We need look no further than Illinois for an example. The state’s ‘Invest in Kids’ program provided a seventy-five percent state tax credit for donations to help families afford private schools…Last December Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson ordered his hand-picked school board to close the (Chicago Public Schools’ selective enrollment) program! Why? Because the Chicago Teachers Union wanted him to.”

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Merging downstate police, fire pensions helps but Illinois needs pension reform – Illinois Policy

The consolidation of these smaller pension systems has likely reduced administrative expenses and could provide access to higher returns and new asset classes not previously accessible to funds with less available capital. This is a small, positive step to begin fixing the state’s pension systems, but it does not address the fundamental problems creating Illinois’ nation-leading pension crisis.

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Commentary: Illinois needs to shore up its electrical grid. Lawmakers and the ICC can make it happen. – Chicago Sun-Times

Michael Clemmons, of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: “Multiple independent analysts have cited Illinois as being one of the worst investing environments for energy projects in the country, and that means proposed projects here sit idle while neighboring states pass us by. Failure to act means jeopardizing reliability and raising costs as fossil-fuel facilities go offline without the renewable infrastructure to get solar and wind power to the communities that need it. We are already seeing electricity prices spike in many parts of the state.”

 

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Tensions grow between city, state and federal government over influx of migrants – Capitol News IL

The most recent back-and-forth between the two came in response to the city’s recent shift in its migrant strategy: away from building new shelters or even increasing capacity of existing shelters, instead focusing on getting migrants out of shelters and into other forms of housing. The state had previously committed $65 million to building a shelter in Chicago in November – an effort that has still not come to fruition. “I’m deeply concerned,” Pritzker said Monday. “We do not have enough shelter as it is in the city of Chicago. The city has not told the state where they would like

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Illinois elections board hears objections to petitions filed by presidential candidates – Center Square

The debate over whether presidential candidates can be excluded from the state’s primary election ballots is playing out in Illinois. The Illinois State Board of Elections conducted petition objection hearings Friday in Chicago and Springfield for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Terry Newsome of Darian is one of several people opposed to Biden being on the ballot, primarily because of his open border policy. “We’re letting all these different terrorists, known terrorists, to enter our country right now that’s infiltrating the United States of America,” Newsome said.

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Rich Miller: Migrants keep coming as Mayor Brandon Johnson hides Chicago’s welcome mat – Chicago Sun-Times

The mayor is pulling back on accepting and caring for the continuing influx of migrants and shifting to his progressive agenda, like banning natural gas connections in most new construction, Rich Miller writes. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget that he passed last November deliberately underfunded programs for asylum-seekers. The meager appropriation could be exhausted by April, but nobody knows yet what the city plans to do when it reaches that point.

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John Kass: Terrors of the Michelle Obama (Presidential) Prophecy

Biden is failing, especially in the key swing states. “We had a poll come out in Michigan the other day and he’s down like eight points,” said Bevan. “And  these are scary, scary numbers for Democrats, and the longer they continue the more I think you will hear about Michelle Obama. And the reason you’ll continue to hear about her because she’s the only answer to the question of ‘Who else?’”

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Paul Vallas: Back to the Bad Old Days – City Journal

Nearly four years on from the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the traditional American public education system remains in disarray. The virus exposed longstanding structural flaws in public schools’ capacity to respond to such crises, particularly thanks to the overwhelming influence of teachers’ unions. Now the unions are trying to hide the damage they have wrought by pushing elected officials to reject objective standards and school choice.

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Editorial | Shrinking unions still wield considerable power – News-Gazette

Just as the UAW has shrunk, so, too, have other industrial unions that represent other once-vibrant manufacturers whose businesses have changed as time passed. That’s why it was odd when the U.S. Department of Labor recently released a cheerleading — and misleading — press release touting increases in unionization to the tune of “139,000 more union members in 2023 than in 2022.”

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Despite possible lean budget, Illinois education officials seek more tax dollars – Center Square

The Illinois State Board of Education is aiming high in its request for more taxpayer funding in the next fiscal year. The board is proposing a $653 million increase over the current level of spending for pre-K-12 schools, bringing the overall budget request for the next school year to $11 billion. The proposal includes a $350 million increase in Evidence-Based Funding. EBF is designed to send more resources to Illinois’ most under-resourced students. State Superintendent of Schools Tony Sanders’ proposal also seeks an additional $75 million increase for the state’s early childhood block grant.

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Illinois behavioral health officials, lawmakers look to address worker shortage – Center Square

A joint committee of the Illinois Senate and House heard about a behavioral health workforce shortage in the state during a Thursday hearing with health-care officials. According to the Illinois Department of Health and Human Services, Illinois has 13.8 behavioral health care professionals for every 10,000 residents, leading lawmakers to seek a solution to what they said is a severe shortage.

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NCPERS Names Illinois State Treasurer Policymaker of the Year – Yahoo News

The National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) presented The Honorable Michael Frerichs, Illinois State Treasurer, with its 2023 Policymaker of the Year Award. The award, presented annually during NCPERS Legislative Conference, recognizes the efforts of a policymaker who has had a positive impact on public pensions or whose efforts have contributed to improvements in retirement security more broadly.

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Best and Worst States to Start a Business in 2024 – Simplify

“Illinois is the worst state to start a business, driven by a high maximum corporate tax rate (9.5%), poor business performance (8.1% say they’re doing excellent), and weak mobility for educated workers. While about 105,000 educated adults moved into the state in 2022, another 159,000 moved out, meaning the state’s net migration for educated workforce was nearly -54,000.”

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Sticker tags replacing I-PASS tollway transponders – Center Square

At the end of January, Illinois drivers can pay their I-PASS highway tolls with a smaller windshield sticker tag instead of the current plastic box transponder. The compact blue and purple windshield sticker tags allow drivers to skip toll booth lines. A bar code on the sticker uses radio frequency ID to connect with toll collection technology.

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Chicago Residents Reject Blaming Greg Abbott for Migrant Crisis – Newsweek

Chicago Migrants Abbott Immigration“There are at least seven lawsuits against the city of Chicago, including three filed by people of color, according to The Free Press. One was filed by Chicago West Side resident Cata Truss, a 57-year-old mother. Another was filed by former Texas U.S. House of Representatives candidate J. Darnell Jones, a Democrat, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) strategist and reparations proponent who lives in Chicago’s South Side. “

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State recommends schools implement yearly mental health screenings for students – Center Square

Illinois House candidate raises concerns about “Illinois Youth Survey.” A new Illinois law recommends Illinois schools implement yearly mental health screenings for students enrolled in K-12th grade. Regan Deering, a Mt. Zion school board member and Illinois House candidate, said the new mental health screenings are a government expansion program being phased in this fall.
“I have seen a list of various schools that are already opting in. We had a variety of schools opt-in to the comprehensive sex education standards and that was the last big conversation we had around surveys and curriculum that are being implemented in our

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J.B. Pritzker Picks Wasteful Education in Illinois – Letter – Wall Street Journal

Gov. Pritzker sent his children to Francis Parker and the Latin School in Chicago. Both currently charge tuition and fees of more than $40,000 a year. But Mr. Pritzker was unwilling to try to save Invest in Kids, clearly telling lower-income parents that failing public schools are good enough for their kids. The average Invest in Kids scholarship cost Illinois about $6,000, whereas Illinois spends about $18,000 per public-school pupil. This means Illinois will be spending more to provide inferior education if parents of more than 33% of the current Invest in Kids scholarship recipients can no

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Army Corps plans $1 billion barricade to deter invasive carp at Illinois and Des Plaines Rivers – WBEZ

Invasive carp could threaten the $7 billion recreation and commercial fishing industry around the Great Lakes. To prevent the prolific fish from spilling out of Illinois’ waterways and into Lake Michigan and beyond, the Army Corps is planning to build a $1.416 billion high-tech suite of barricades to deter the fish from moving upstream. The Brandon Road Interbasin Project could take anywhere from six to eight years at a minimum to complete once construction. The Army Corps and state department of natural resources are still working to finalize a partnership agreement.

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Rezin Measure Would Allow Cities a Voice in Placement of Some Rural Illinois Solar Farms – Starved Rock Media

Municipalities would be given back their voice in the placement of solar farms under a new measure sponsored by State Senator Sue Rezin. The Morris Republican has introduced a bill allowing cities, towns and villages to weigh in on the placement of solar-energy facilities in unincorporated areas that are within three miles of town. Rezin says she’s backing the bill to help fix a mistake she says was made in the fall.

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State: ‘Government has no authority’ to impose penalties for not registering banned guns – Center Square

In their response to a Fifth Amendment challenge to the state’s gun ban and registry in the Southern District of Illinois federal court, attorneys for the state say the right against self-incrimination isn’t violated by the registry.  The state’s lawyers argue the registration is a “voluntary benefit that exempts owners of certain” firearms from “otherwise applicable criminal penalties.” They also argue the “government has no authority to impose” penalties on those that don’t register and the idea someone would be prosecuted for

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Pritzker touts climate investments despite renewables lagging state goals – Capitol News IL

Pritzker in recent months has made several announcements regarding renewable energy investments in Illinois. These include Gotion’s battery plant in Manteno, MicroLink Devices’ solar cell factory in Niles, Prysmian Group’s cable plant in Du Quoin, Manner Polymers’ new facility in Mount Vernon, and Wieland’s copper plants around the state. Altogether, those deals are worth just over $360 million in tax credits paid out over decades, in addition to millions of dollars’ worth of other state and local tax breaks.

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CCP Gotion, CATL, four other Chinese battery companies banned from U.S. military bases – The Midwesterner

Gotion plans an E.V battery facility in Manteno, Illinois. “This ban is a step in the right direction, and we applaud it,” according to a statement from former U.S. ambassadors Peter Hoekstra and Joseph Cella. “Given the aggressive adversarial nature of the PRC and the CCP, we urge lawmakers give this procurement ban immediate effect, extend it to the entire federal government, and investigate why CATL and Gotion can receive tax credits through the [Inflation Reduction Act]…. Why are Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Governor J.B. Pritzker handing billions of taxpayer dollars and other subsidies to these PRC-based and CCP-tied manufacturers

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GOP lawmakers pushing for more service hours for those living in group homes – Center Square

The plan is to cut 2.5 million Direct Support Professional workers’ service hours in group homes where approximately 10,000 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities live. “We haven’t had quality workers in these homes in the past, where rapes have occurred, or we find a resident sitting in the middle of the highway, there are problems all over the board,” state Rep. Charlie Meier said. “The extra hours and extra workers would be good.”

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JB Pritzker, Pusherman – National Review

“…(S)urely only the most glib libertine would celebrate the increase of an obvious vice year over year, particularly in the context of how deeply the state is invested in the industry. Imagine Pritzker instead tweeting about how excited he is to see cigarette or liquor sales up for the third year running because the tax coffers runneth over.”

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Illinois is considering its own child tax credit – WBEZ (Chicago)

Proposals to implement a child tax credit in Illinois have previously come up against resistance because of their price tag. A recent analysis by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute estimated the $700 credit would cost the state $1 billion a year. Economist Frank Manzo argues that cost would be offset by reductions in spending on state assistance for low-income families.

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Pritzker joins Democratic governors asking Biden, Congress for migrant aid and to fix ‘outdated’ immigration system – Chicago Sun-Times

“The sustained arrival of individuals seeking asylum and requiring shelter and assistance, due to lack of Congressional action on infrastructure and policies, can only be addressed with federal organizational support and funding to meet the public safety and humanitarian needs of our local communities,” reads the letter signed by the governors of New York, Illinois, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New Mexico.

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18 states embrace school choice as Illinois hurts low-income families – Illinois Policy

A majority of the students who received Invest in Kids scholarships in the 2022-2023 school year came from families living on less than 185% of the federal poverty level, or $49,025 for a family of four. Yet lawmakers ignored the needs of those 10,000 disadvantaged students and overwhelming public support for the program. Instead, they kowtowed to the wants of teachers unions, who put significant dollars behind their attack on the program.

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Illinois bill seeks to ban food additives linked to health issues – Chicago Sun-Times

Senate Bill 2637, introduced by state Sen. Willie Preston and backed by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, would ban brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and red dye No. 3 — four additives that California outlawed in October. Preston said he’ll amend the bill, which was filed in November, to also ban titanium dioxide from foods and beverages.

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Central IL towns weigh gambling cashflow pros and cons – WCIA (Champaign)

“Me being against gamblers is one thing, but I can’t be against gambling for the mere fact that it creates a cash flow that benefits the people of Tilton,” Mayor Bill Wear said. “You take the extra money we have, we now have a full-time police force — whereas before, we had two full-time guys and a bunch of part-time guys…We have a semi-full time ambulance service. And that was all generated by tax dollars and more than being gambling revenue.”

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Car insurance rates went up again for Illinois drivers last year, analysis shows – WBEZ (Chicago)

Unlike some states, where auto insurance companies must get prior approval for rate increases, Illinois allows insurers to set whatever rate they choose, then inform the Illinois Department of Insurance. State Rep. Will Guzzardi and state Sen. Javier Cervantes introduced legislation last year that would give the department authority to reject or modify “excessive” rate increases and ban the use of certain “non-driving” factors in setting premiums.

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Commentary: Illinois’ state of the state for business – Daily Herald*

Matt Paprocki, of Illinois Policy Institute: “While there’s surely been recent improvement to Illinois’ coffers and bond ratings, there’s more to the state’s economic health than simple talking points. The reality is that (Gov. JB) Pritzker and state government could bring back businesses by emphasizing the right policy changes, not wooing and giving tax breaks to one-off companies.”

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Chicagoland transit wants state help with looming budget crisis – Axios

The Regional Transportation Authority — which oversees CTA, Metra and Pace — faces a $730 million budget shortfall, and service cuts could come if the gap isn’t filled by 2026. New recommendations to help stave off the deficit were delivered to state lawmakers last month in the hope they’d be used to help craft policy this 2024 session.

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Local law enforcement reacts to new Illinois law allowing non-citizens to become police officers – WHBF (Rock Island)

Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker says background checks will ultimately refuse most, if not all, non-citizens in Illinois who want to work in law enforcement. “Our detectives when doing a background check will go to the neighborhood these candidates grew up in and talk to the neighbors. How do you do that with these migrants? It’s not feasible for us to do a complete and thorough background check. I don’t think the State of Illinois thought about that when they allowed this.”

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Column: SAFE-T Act burying state courts with detention appeals – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “Ironically, the largest of the state’s five districts had the smallest number of detention order appeals. District 1 consists of the heavily populated, crime-ridden Cook County. Between Sept. 18 and Dec. 31, just 161 jailed inmates appealed. (Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia) Rietz suggested the number is low because Cook County prosecutors are not pressing the detention issue. If so, that would be consistent with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s controversial reputation. Champaign County is included in the sprawling Fifth District, which saw 394 detention appeals during the September/December period.”

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Illinois Supreme Court Agrees With Raoul In Temporary Staffing Case Over No-Poach And Wage-Fixing Agreements – RiverBender (Alton)

Agreeing with Attorney General Kwame Raoul, the court ruled that the Illinois Antitrust Act does not exempt Illinois labor markets from antitrust scrutiny. The matter stemmed from a 2020 complaint which alleged three staffing agencies formed unlawful agreements to refuse to solicit or hire each other’s employees and to fix the wages paid to employees.

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Bye-bye, witty road signs: Feds ban funny electronic messages on highways – USA Today

FOX26Houston on X: "No joke: Feds are banning humorous electronic messages  on freeways https://t.co/CbwPCm9Ojm" / XOverhead electronic signs with “obscure meanings, references to pop culture or those intended to be funny” will be phased out nationwide over the next couple of years because “they can be misunderstood or distracting to drivers.” Signs should be “simple, direct, brief, legible and clear,” and must only be used to “relay important information,” including warning drivers of crashes ahead, inclement weather conditions or traffic delays.

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Jim Nowlan: Illinois downstaters and their city ‘cousins’ live in different worlds – Chicago Tribune*

Jim Nowlan: “Fortunately, survey after survey going back to my graduate school days has shown that urban Illinois residents have quite positive attitudes toward their rural Illinois ‘cousins.’ Thus, urban Illinois leaders, the only ones who count, could benefit their country cousins with systematic programs to infuse small-town school leaders, parents and students with aspirations to achieve more in school. Then country and city mice would become more alike.”

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Some worry Illinois spending priorities under pressure by ongoing migrant care – Center Square

The current budget includes $550 million for the health care subsidies for non-citizens in Illinois over the age of 42, but the projected annual cost from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is $832.7 million. The Pritzker administration announced a freeze of new enrollees last year to help shore up those costs. Those costs are on top of around half-a-billion dollars in housing, food and other costs the state’s taxpayers have already incurred.

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Farming proponents hope for higher Illinois estate tax exemptions – Bloomington Pantagraph

Another hot topic involves property rights, specifically concerning private waterways. Under existing state law, landowners have claim to use of rivers and streams on their farms, with navigable waters — such as the Illinois River and other major waterways — being exceptions. Kevin Semlow, of the Illinois Farm Bureau, said, “There is a movement to allow that access to everyone for sightseeing or whatever. You would still be liable for any damages or harm to anyone on your property, and you didn’t invite them.”

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Two grade schools in Belleville diocese to close – St. Louis Post Dispatch

The closure announcement lists several factors for the school’s decline: Difficulty hiring teachers for lower pay than public schools; declining population in the city of Belleville; and expensive upkeep for aging buildings. Another factor cited by church leaders is the expiration of the Invest in Kids Act, Illinois’ tax-credit program for private school vouchers.

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Editorial: JB Pritzker vs. Catholic Schools – Wall Street Journal

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Democrats in the Legislature killed the Invest in Kids scholarship program last year, blocking money for more than 9,000 low-income students to escape failing public schools. Now comes the second wave of destruction as the schools that welcomed the scholarship students are beginning to close.

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Lawmakers, advocates protest funding cuts for developmental disabilities – Champaign News-Gazette

“This reduction is an approximately $87.7 million cut to (adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities) and accounts for approximately 9% of total (staff) hours and would result in a reduction of service hours for 90% of all group home residents,” reads a letter penned by state Sen. Chapin Rose. He said later, “Oddly enough, the same time that the immigration crisis popped up and the governor was talking about all this new money that was coming out of nowhere to pay for the immigrant crisis in Chicago was right around the time they originally notified all these group homes that they were

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Rich Miller: Illinois lawmakers eye a permanent $300 child tax credit, but where’s the money? – Chicago Sun-Times

“The problem, of course, is the cost, pegged at about $300 million per year. As I’ve told you before, numbers crunchers with the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget are saying Illinois could face a budget deficit of $891 million next fiscal year, which begins July 1. That deficit could rise to $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2026 and $1.66 billion in FY27. But this issue has real potential to take off in the General Assembly.”

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Eastern Illinois GOP lawmakers say state should stop helping migrants – WAND (Decatur)

A proposal to repeal the Illinois TRUST Act, which created the state’s sanctuary status, has over 30 House Republican co-sponsors. However, it is highly unlikely that Democratic leaders will allow that plan to be heard in hearing or on the House floor. “In lockstep with the White House, Gov. Pritzker and the Illinois Democrats have propped up and expanded our sanctuary state policies to make Illinois the new Holiday Inn Express for illegal immigrants,” said Rep. Chris Miller.

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Duckworth, Durbin vote to table Bernie Sanders’ bid to scrutinize Israel’s Palestinian human rights record – Chicago Sun-Times

The vote on Sanders’ resolution further exposed the schism that has developed among Democrats over the Israel-Hamas war and the debate over the best way for the Biden administration and Congress to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back the attacks as civilian deaths in Gaza caused by Israel’s bombs soar.

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Gov. Pritzker’s Statement on IL Supreme Court Ruling on Pension Reform – Press Release

It reads, in part, “After 70 years of attempts, my partners in the General Assembly and I were able to accomplish meaningful reform during my first term in office. We ushered in a new era of responsible fiscal management, one aspect of which has been consolidating over 600 local pension systems to increase returns and lower fees, reducing the burden on taxpayers and keeping another campaign promise.”

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Illinois Top Court Gives Pritzker Win With Pension Funds’ Merger – Bloomberg Law

The Illinois Supreme Court Friday upheld lower courts’ rulings to allow the merger of billions in assets from hundreds of local pensions to move forward. The court said a state law requiring the pooling of assets held by more than 600 downstate and suburban fire and police funds does not violate the state constitution’s pension protections as the plaintiffs had argued.

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‘Climate Change’ in Chicago Puts Biden’s EV Mandate On Thin Ice – Issues & Insights

The polar vortex gripping the nation has exposed a fatal flaw in President Joe Biden’s push to force Americans into electric cars. EVs don’t work well in the cold. Several news stories out of Chicago this week report how EV owners have been struggling to keep their cars charged as extreme cold saps their batteries of energy, extends charging times, and forces owners to wait for hours to get an open charger.

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Smart Start preschool expansion ahead of schedule in first fiscal year – Capitol News IL

The Smart Start program passed last May as part of the state’s operating budget, which allocated $250 million to expand early childhood education programs, including wage support for child care workers, early intervention programs and home visiting programs. It also included a goal of adding 5,000 pre-k spots in areas where access was lacking – and the state has exceeded that number by over 800 seats.

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Meet The Donors Funding The Shadow Campaign To Stop Trump’s Second Term Before It Even Begins – Daily Caller

The John Pritzker Family Fund gave the Protect Democracy Project $700,000 between 2019 and 2022. The Pritzker family is one of the nation’s wealthiest and deeply connected to the world of liberal politics. John’s cousin, JB Pritzker, serves as the Democratic governor of Illinois while another one of his cousins, Penny Pritzker, has held high-ranking posts in both the Obama and Biden administrations.

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‘Is That Seriously What You Said?!’: Ted Cruz Explodes On Sen. Dick Durbin – Daily Caller

Sens. Ted Cruz and Dick DurbinTexas Sen. Ted Cruz exploded when Durbin accused him of assuming Adeel Mangi, nominated to serve as a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in New Jersey, was an antisemite or terrorist sympathizer because he is Muslim. Said Cruz, “You did not dispute any of the facts I said about the organization that he was an advisor of, he was a donor of, he raised money for. The Democrats don’t want to defend the

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Patchwork aid system and uncertain funding leave thousands of migrants in limbo – Capitol News IL

Patchwork aid system and uncertain funding leave thousands of migrants in limbo“We know this unprecedented humanitarian crisis is going to be critical to discussions on budget and other important issues this session,” House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said Tuesday, one day before announcing a nine-member working group to concentrate on the migrant issue. “We’re going to keep all options on the table and have frank conversations with our caucus, the Senate president, Governor Pritzker, and other stakeholders.”

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Jeanne Ives, Parents Matter Coalition seeking parental rights question for Illinois’ November ballot – Center Square

“Shall the written consent from a minor’s parent or guardian be required before any entity, person, clinic or school can provide a minor (under the age of 18 years) any nonemergency medical procedure, medication, pharmaceutical, or any gender modification procedure, gender identification counseling or gender therapy?” the question asks.

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Pritzker responds to lawmakers calling for end of migrant sanctuary status – Center Square

“The discussion about being a welcoming state or a sanctuary state, all of that discussion has always been about what are we going to do about the undocumented people that have been here for decades,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. He said there’s a difference between illegal and undocumented migrants and those who are documented asylum seekers, “so on the question about the challenges that are brought up in a press conference like that have zero to do with the current migration crisis that’s occurring.”

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Commentary: Journalism is in a sorry state in Illinois and nationwide. But there is hope for local news. – Chicago Tribune*

David Greising, of the Better Government Association: “Illinois has been hit hard: Five downstate counties have no local news source, and four others are at risk of losing their lone outlet. Illinois newspapers have lost 86% of their journalism jobs since 2005. Chicago, despite a boomlet in the nonprofit journalism sector, still is among the 20 metro areas with the largest loss of news sources per capita.”

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Ralph Martire: We must invest public dollars to address racial inequality – Chicago Sun-Times

“Government leaders have named streets after (Martin Luther King Jr.) and created a federal holiday to commemorate his life. OK, fine. But if our public sector really wants a meaningful way to honor King, it should actually redress the harm done to generations of Black Americans, by eliminating the structural racism woven into the fabric of society. This responsibility falls more on the public sector now than ever, given the Supreme Court’s recent anti-affirmative action decision, which makes it difficult for individual institutions to deal directly with racial inequity.”

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Illinois pays hefty sum to participate in Rose Parade – Center Square

TCS ILLINOIS ROSE BOWL PARADE 1The cost of constructing the Enjoy Illinois float, the performers on board and the entry fee cost taxpayers $560,000. The theme spotlighted the state’s music history along Route 66 and was called “Illinois: The Middle of Beats and Blues,” a nod to the state’s tourism campaign, “Middle of Everything.” The float did not grab any of the 24 float trophies awarded this year.

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker offers financial incentives to suburbs that house immigrants – Washington Examiner

Whether suburbs will take the financial incentives from the state to open their communities remains to be seen. “It shouldn’t be all these mayors fixing the problem,” Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said in December. “It’s not our job. We’re not built to handle this. Hopefully, the federal government says, OK, let’s fix this problem.”

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Elgin-area group that provides housing for people with disabilities pushing back against $87M in state budget cuts – Elgin Courier-News

The Illinois Department of Human Services’s proposed $87 million budget cut for services for people with developmental disabilities living in group homes could result in fewer residences being available, according to one nonprofit housing provider. At the same time, the state added $72 million to cover increases dictated by the mandatory minimum wage increase that took effect Jan. 1.

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Pritzker touts early childhood education funding – Center Square

The $250 million taxpayer-funded Smart Start Program is run by the Illinois State Board of Education. “This is resulting in not 5,000 but 5,823 brand new preschool seats, every one of which is valuable for those children and their parents and our futures,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. “That’s 15% more than we promised for just this year, vastly exceeding our first-year goals.”

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Homicide rates drastically drop in Central Illinois – WICS (Springfield)

Something they partially contribute to community engagement which was up over 300% from 2022. “Champaign Police are out there, we’re engaged, we’re building trust and we’re seeing people respond. More people are willing to come forward as witnesses to these events which do lead to, increased arrests,” explained Joe Lamberson, CPD’s public information officer.

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Tax credits among policies being considered to revive local journalism in Illinois – Center Square

Since 2005, the task force found that Illinois has lost 86% of journalist jobs at newspapers, and 232 local newspapers have folded. The report also cited a decline in advertising revenues for local news outlets as a majority of Illinoisans said they get their news online. Five of Illinois’ 102 counties (Pulaski, Alexander, Perry, Hamilton, and Edwards) have no local source of news, and 33 rely on just a single source, according to The State of Local News 2023, a research project led by Northwestern’s Medill Local News Initiative.

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Democrats create migrant working group Republicans say should be made public – Center Square

The group consists of House Democrats, but no Republicans. State Rep. Dan Caulkins, who recently traveled to the southern U.S. border, said Democrats need to open the meetings up to the public. “Let the people come in from the neighborhoods that are affected,” Caulkins said. “Let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about it out in the open. Not some small working group that’s going to give the governor cover, ‘oh we’re trying to figure it out.’”

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With gun ban rules sustained, Pritzker says registry will be ‘working the way it should’ – Center Square

Pritzker gave reasons for why he said only about 30,000 of the state’s 2.4 million Firearm Owners ID card holders have registered now banned guns by the Jan. 1 deadline. “First, they’re expensive,” he said. “Second, it’s a fraction of the 2.4 million people who have FOID cards that have an assault weapon, many of them having multiples of them. And third, the rules hadn’t really been approved until yesterday by the committee in the legislature.”

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Illinois Secretary of State tells drivers ‘don’t come’ to DMV unless absolutely necessary – NBC5 (Chicago)

“I’m serious. Don’t come unless you are 100% certain that you need to visit one of our facilities,” Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said. “The reason is obvious. Most people do not need to go to a DMV facility to get what they need.” Motorists ages 21 to 78 with clean driving records should have to visit a driver’s facility only once every 12 years, he said.

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Illinois governor complains blue cities are ‘suffering’ from Abbott bussing migrants – FOX News

“Cities out here that are the target of this political game that Gov. (Greg) Abbott is playing are suffering, and here in Illinois it’s minus 29 degrees outside with the windchill. We have migrants that arrive from Texas virtually every day, hundreds, and we don’t have places to put them. We don’t have enough shelter space here,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.

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Illinois announces additional funding for migrants, but there’s a catch – FOX32 (Chicago)

The state, Tuesday, announced $17 million in additional funding to address the crisis. Included in that is $11 million toward Supporting Municipalities for Asylum Seeker Services (SMASS). Those funds will specifically be given to municipalities outside of Chicago to support new arrivals living there; however, the money cannot be used to transport migrants to other communities.

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JB Pritzker Gives the Game Away – National Review

“‘It’s simply a question of whether you like your MAGA Trump agenda wrapped in the original packaging or with high heels or with lifts in their boots,’ Pritzker added. If anyone needed further confirmation that Democratic lawmakers and political professionals alike do not actually believe that Donald Trump represents a unique threat to the American constitutional order, Pritzker provided it.”

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Illinois businesses must share ownership details under new federal law – Chicago Sun-Times

The Corporate Transparency Act of 2021 requires most companies doing business in the United States to file reports about the people who own them to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Up to 900,000 small and midsize businesses in Illinois may be impacted, Illinois Deputy Secretary of State Scott Burnham estimated.

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Illinois Supreme Court announces creation of Pretrial Release Appeals Task Force – WAND (Decatur)

As a result of the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act in September 2023, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of appeals from pretrial release decisions by the circuit courts, the Illinois Supreme Court said. The Task Force will convene to review pretrial release appeals and their impact on the caseloads in each of the five districts of the Illinois Appellate Court.

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Migrant influx to Illinois being felt in downstate communities – Center Square

A group of Republican state lawmakers is introducing a package of bills in connection with the mounting costs of migrant care. State Rep. John Cabello said Illinoisans should not have to pick up the tab for migrant health care. “With the bills mounting on their table, trying to pay for health insurance, yet you come here illegally and you get health insurance. That just doesn’t make sense.”

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Group overviews show how new state laws will affect Illinois counties – Center Square

Taylor Anderson from the Illinois Association of County Board Members said that the state’s budget situation will not be as easy to deal with as in the past couple years. “The numbers we’re starting to see for that are far less rosy than the last year’s budget picture. Right now we’re looking at a pretty significant deficit and so we’re not anticipating the budgetary process to be as smooth this upcoming fiscal year as it was for our current fiscal year.”

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Lawmakers clear path for assault weapon registration rules – Capitol News IL

New permanent rules will soon go into effect spelling out how people who own assault weapons and related items that are now heavily regulated in Illinois can register them with the Illinois State Police. The legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules voted along party lines Tuesday to let the rules go into effect, ending months of negotiations and debate between supporters of the law and gun rights advocates.

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As recreational cannabis sales again hit record, Illinois AG calls for federal rescheduling – Capitol News IL

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning the federal government believes it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” But Attorney General Kwame Raoul and his counterparts in 11 other states are calling on a reclassification to Schedule 3, meaning it has “a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”

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The 10 Pols Who Could Replace Dick Durbin – Chicago Magazine

“The senator will be 82 when his fifth term expires in 2027. He will have tied Shelby Moore Cullom’s record of 30 years as Illinois’s longest-serving senator…Durbin has not yet announced whether he will run again — he has said only that it depends on his ‘physical and mental abilities’ — but there’s already a shadow primary to replace him. ‘It’s going to be a free-for-all,’ predicts political consultant Don Rose.”

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National group gives Illinois poor rating on policies that support reading instruction – Center Square

Illinois received a “weak” rating because it lacks two strong policies: Requiring districts to select a high-quality reading curriculum, and providing professional learning for teachers and ongoing support to sustain the implementation of the science of reading. National Council on Teacher Quality President Heather Peske said the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress that showed that 38% of Illinois fourth graders could not read at a basic level is sobering.

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Parent Of Battery Maker, Illinois-Subsidized Gotion, Participated In Communist Party Programs That Acquire Tech For China’s Military – Daily Caller

70th Anniversary Of The Founding Of The People's Republic Of China - Military Parade & Mass Pageantry

Gotion High-Tech has participated in the 863 Program and Torch Program, two initiatives identified as projects designed to acquire advanced technology and research to support the People’s Liberation Army, according to a DCNF review of corporate materials. Gotion High-Tech owns the U.S.-based Gotion, Inc.,

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Rule change allows craft cannabis growers in Illinois to expand more quickly, but it may not be enough to save many of them – Chicago Tribune/MSN

After years of delay, just 10 craft growers are deemed operational, out of 88 licensed businesses. Most of the owners have been unable to open for business, due largely to an inability to get sufficient financing. Because the plant remains illegal under federal law, federally licensed banks are forbidden from financing such operations. The state’s arbitrary size limit compounds the problems of getting financing, craft growers say, because other lenders are leery of funding operations with such small capacity.

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Funding for migrants, Chicago school board elections on agenda as lawmakers return to Springfield – Chicago Tribune/MSN

Legislators face a self-imposed deadline to approve a new 20-district map for the first Chicago Public Schools elected board, an issue they left hanging last spring and again in the fall after Democrats who control both legislative chambers failed to reach an agreement. At the same time, Gov. JB Pritzker and lawmakers have to decide how big of a role the state government should play in assisting Chicago with an even more immediate issue, the thousands of asylum-seekers who have been sent to the city by governors in Texas and other border states.

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Editorial: Rising utility rates in northern Illinois are no different from tax increases – Chicago Tribune*

“For years, the Illinois Commerce Commission has given the companies most of what they request in the way of rates. On the few occasions in the past where regulators dared to push back, utilities like Commonwealth Edison took their case to the General Assembly and ran roughshod over the ICC, winning their rate hikes via legislation. Now, the empire is preparing to strike back. But, since the companies themselves no longer enjoy the clout they once did, thanks mainly to ComEd bribing its way to success in Springfield, the unions representing workers benefiting from large-scale utility infrastructure work are doing

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How to End Home-Equity Theft – City Journal

Proponents of homeowners’ rights should support a ban on home-equity theft—a practice whereby the government takes the property of someone who has fallen behind on his taxes and sells the property to cover the debt, pocketing the surplus proceeds. Nineteen states still allow home-equity theft, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling that this violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

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Public Education’s Next Frontier Is Equitable Funding For All Students – Forbes

” Illinois lawmakers have killed that state’s modest choice program, Invest in Kids, which provided scholarships for approximately 41,000 of the poorest students in Illinois…The backlash comes on the heels of a huge winning streak for education choice in the states, as well as growing popular and tri-partisan sentiment that parents should be the ones to decide how to educate their kids. That remains a powerful argument, as does the data that justifies their cause.”

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Illinois bill would give unions platform for indoctrination in Illinois schools – Illinois Policy

House Bill 4417 requires every high school to observe an annual “Workplace Readiness Week.” The name sounds like it would help Illinois students prepare for the workforce: perhaps help them know how to apply for a job or prepare for an interview. Instead, it would mandate high schools provide students – every year – with information on issues such as “prohibitions against misclassification of employees as independent contractors,” family leave and – of course – the right to organize a union in the workplace.

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Drought that affected Illinois, other states was most expensive billion-dollar disaster in 2023, but extreme cold can be costly in other ways – Chicago Tribune/MSN

Ice forms on North Avenue Beach as steam rises off Lake Michigan during subzero temps on Jan. 14, 2024.“When we get a drought — like the drought of 2012, for example, (it) just blew all the records away because drought affects agriculture, and those numbers just skyrocket. And drought has potentially affected much larger areas than really any other disaster,” Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford said.

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Illinois mandates mental health screenings of students starting this fall – Center Square

Mark Klaisner, executive director of West 40 in West Cook County, said schools only have a few months to find a screening model and train people to administer the annual screenings. The Illinois State Board of Education is currently working through the challenge of exactly how to get a mental health screening process up and running for Illinois’ 2 million school students.

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Understanding the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act – A Comprehensive Overview – JD Supra

Despite its statewide coverage, PLAWA does not apply to any employer that is already covered on January 1, 2024, by a municipal or county ordinance that requires employers to give any form of paid leave to their employees, including paid sick leave. The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted  Dec. 14, 2023, to enact its Paid Leave Ordinance, which took effect Dec. 31, 2023. And the Chicago City Council signed a new paid time off ordinance Nov. 9, 2023, the Chicago Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance, effective July 1, 2024.

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Who are the Concerned Citizens of Manteno? – Kankakee Daily Journal

No Gotion rally in Manteno“It’s unreal,” said Amanda Piker, of Manteno, who is also a member of the Concerned Citizens. “We’ve lived in this town for about 35 years and have never met any of [the others in the group]…It’s like everybody just started coming from every direction, and they just bring in different types of expertise to the table. So we have worked together with people that we have just met, who share the same passion. But it’s everybody who’s a piece of the puzzle.”

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Illinois’ Ethically Challenged Court – American Greatness

“The gun ban law is just one of many in the last two years where one-party control of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches has emboldened Democrats to make laws that are not constitutionally sound…. These laws are a different type of lawlessness and far more harmful than street crime. When state legislatures and local officials can strip people of their rights and force them to go through expensive and lengthy lawsuits to get those rights back, then freedom is at risk for everyone.”

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Illinois lawmakers created an arson registry. 20 years later, it’s still empty. – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Currently, the act is an unfunded mandate,” said Illinois State Police spokeswoman Melaney Arnold. “In the 19 years since the act was passed, the General Assembly has never appropriated funding to ISP for this Act. ISP would need to create an extensive, new database (similar to the sex offender registration) and maintain it. This requires funding for setup and ongoing administration of the program.”

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Illinois one of Seven States to Begin Tapping Medicaid Dollars to Combat Gun Violence – Governing

In Illinois, which two years ago became one of the first states to approve Medicaid spending for violence prevention, Chicago CRED hopes to get approval for its program this spring. Arne Duncan, the former U.S. education secretary who leads the violence prevention group, said, “We’re trying to build a public health infrastructure to combat gun violence. Having Medicaid start to be a player in this space and create those opportunities could be a game changer.”

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Urbana joins other Illinois communities to pay for Census recount – Center Square

“People don’t realize how much of a city’s revenue is related to population, because that is how a lot of our revenue from the state and federal governments is distributed,” Mayor Diane Marlin said. “It is one of those things where you don’t realize how important it is until you suddenly lose it.”The small Illinois communities of McDonough, Pingree Grove, and Warrenville are also seeking partial 2020 census recounts.

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With a March 19 primary election looming, Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield – WBEZ (Chicago)

“Historically, the spring session in an election year is basically a budget session with a very light agenda for substantive bills,” said Kent Redfield, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois Springfield. “The overall goal pre-primary is to do as little as possible as quickly as possible so they can go back to their districts and campaign and raise money.”

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Judge denies delaying case on merits of Illinois’ gun ban challenge – Center Square

Southern District of Illinois federal Judge Stephen McGlynn is expediting the case challenging Illinois’ gun ban, despite some plaintiffs wanting to delay a trial so they can attempt to have a hearing with the U.S. Supreme Court. “Not gonna happen,” McGlynn said. “We’re going to conduct a hearing and I’m going to address all the questions of fact and I’m going to apply the law to the questions of fact and I’m going to have a clearly defined record and we’re going to move at deliberate speed.”

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Illinois lawmakers quietly scaled back a popular tax credit, but now a former governor wants it back. – Chicago Sun-Times

Tucked within a 558-page revenue package, the little-noticed tax change came about last spring with passage of the state budget omnibus package approved by the Democratic-led General Assembly and enacted by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. The freeze in the widely used state tax credit known as the standard exemption, coming a year after the biggest jump in inflation in four decades, resulted in as much as $114 million in savings for the state — money that went from taxpayers’ pockets to a series of other legislative spending add-ons. And no one is taking credit — or blame — for the little-publicized

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McLean County Board rejects immigration resolution – WEEK (Peoria)

“If nothing else, we raised awareness of an impending problem,” said board member Chuck Erickson, who introduced the measure to ban the use of county tax dollars to support migrants. “Chicago is like other cities where they are reaching maximum capacity and it won’t be long before it gets further downstate.”

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Pro-Palestinian students want universities to stop investing in companies with ties to Israel – WBEZ (Chicago)

At the center of the debate are billions of dollars given by donors to sustain universities in the long term. The endowment of the University of Illinois System, which includes UIC and is a public institution, was valued at $2.7 billion. Robert Kelchen, a higher education researcher at the University of Tennessee, said the dilemma points to a larger question: “Is the duty of the endowment to grow as much as possible? Or is it to do good for the public? And those two can sometimes be in tension with each other.”

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With low compliance, Pritzker says state will work through gun registration ‘challenges’ – Center Square

Despite preliminary efforts to block the law having largely failed, legal challenges persist. Friday afternoon, Southern District of Illinois federal Judge Stephen McGlynn will hold a scheduling conference for a constitutional challenge on the merits of the law. “On the merits, the vagueness is a great claim and it’s only made stronger by this circus,” Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois board member Dan Eldridge said.

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Pritzker gaslights, Illinoisans step on the gas – Illinois Policy

“But here’s the number that should wake (Gov. JB) Pritzker in the wee hours: 364,443 Illinoisans decided they no longer wanted to live here, just since 2020. There is no stronger message they could send that they disapprove of how the state’s politicians are treating them, their taxes, their jobs and houses.”

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What a Permanent Child Tax Credit Could Mean for Families in Illinois – WTTW (Chicago)

State Rep. Mary Beth Canty, a chief co-sponsor of a bill in the state House that would enact a permanent child tax credit, said, “We know that this is something that has to be dealt with at the federal level, but the states also have a real opportunity to make a difference…These funds would allow households to do what they think is right for their family.” According to Canty, there are 14 other states that are running similar programs.

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Gov. Pritzker wants lawmakers to backfill $160 million that went toward migrant crisis – NBC5 (Chicago)

While touting that “progress is being made,” the governor acknowledged that he was “concerned” that Congress may not act on a bill that would potentially provide much-needed federal aid to cities playing host to migrants. “So I’m concerned,” he said. When asked if that meant the City of Chicago and the state would be left footing the bill, he said: “Yes. And philanthropy. We’re doing the best we can with the resources we have.”

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The Case for Universal School Choice – Governing

“The tragic case of Illinois’ Invest In Kids scholarship program provides ample warning of the importance of a broad constituency. The program serves more than 9,500 low-income, largely minority students from the Chicago area. Yet policymakers abandoned these students, who stand to lose their scholarships, not only at great personal cost to the families but also straining the local public school system with the inevitable influx of students whose needs were being served by private schools. “

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Column: Illinois not quite as welcoming to migrants as it set out to be – Lake County News-Sun

“Buffalo Grove, Grayslake, Highwood, Mundelein, North Chicago and Waukegan, are among county municipalities hoping to curb the influx. Officials contend they don’t have room or infrastructure for the migrants…It’s a patchwork system for sure. What’s needed are statewide provisions. If regulating immigration is a job for the federal government, then Illinois government needs to get involved in the beginning when the buses enter the state from interstates 55 or 57, and escort them north.”

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State Reps. Kelly Cassidy and Will Guzzardi: We’re Jewish legislators, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza – Chicago Sun-Times

“Here in our own communities, Islamophobia and antisemitism are boiling over in ways that put all of us in danger. We’ve seen evidence of this just in the last week in Andersonville, where bigoted flyers and graffiti have targeted both Jews and Muslims with rhetoric that threatens to lead to violence. So yes, we believe it’s time for a cease-fire.”

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While some states move to secure voting, Illinois looks to expand access – Center Square

Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons testified that Illinois is becoming one of the easiest states in the country to vote for several reasons, including allowing convicted felons the right to vote. One measure being discussed, House Bill 4198, would allow an election authority to mail a vote by mail ballot to all qualified voters instead of sending notices and applications for permanent vote by mail status.

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Illinois limited in regulating migrant buses as blame for crisis continues – Center Square

Asked about bringing uniformity statewide in dealing with bus drop offs, Gov. JB Pritzker said that’s not possible. “The laws don’t exist in the state of Illinois for us to do that today, we can’t just impose some rules from the state level on every city, every county, every township,” Pritzker said. He also said they’re putting pressure on private plane operators, but didn’t want to disclose his strategy.

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Illinois Supreme Court to determine if cannabis odor can be cause for vehicle search – Capitol News IL

Lawyers for two individuals who were in vehicles that were searched after an officer used the smell of cannabis as probable cause argued the smell of cannabis alone should not be probable cause to search a vehicle given that the substance is no longer illegal in Illinois. But Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office argued the law requires drivers to transport cannabis in an odor-proof container. Thus, the presence of cannabis odor is grounds for a search, even if the passenger is possessing an amount under the legal limit or has a medical marijuana card.

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Commentary: The naysayers have it wrong. Illinois is the place to be for businesses. – Chicago Tribune*

A LionC electric school bus in the process of being assembled in the Lion Electric plant in Channahon on June 5, 2023.John Atkinson and Dan Seals of Intersect Illinois, a statewide economic development organization: “In fact, 382 companies relocated or expanded in Illinois in fiscal year 2023; that’s an average of more than one company every single day…Momentum is on our side, which is reflected in the 61% of Illinois’ small and midsize business owners who reported feeling optimistic about business in the region, according to a JPMorgan Chase survey —

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Pritzker says United Airlines has told the state it’s not moving – Crain’s*

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his staff have spoken with United Airlines officials who have assured them the company isn’t planning to move its headquarters from Illinois. United’s purchase of a large chunk of land in Denver for a flight-training facility — and its recently filed plans that also include the prospect of a large corporate campus — set off alarms that the company’s headquarters might be in play.

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State Rep. Brad Halbrook visits southern U.S. border amid migrant crisis – Center Square

Halbrook said it is time for the legislature to step in as Pritzker has issued his 18th disaster proclamation to deal with the crisis. “That’s why this trip was important to bring attention to this very issue. We have railed on the governor. We think he is missing his emergency powers. We think it ends after 30 days and the General Assembly needs to be called in to work through these issues.”

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Businesses Started In Pandemic Can Get Illinois Government Grants – Block Club Chicago

In 2020, more than 170,000 businesses were started in Illinois and in 2021 almost 200,000 businesses started up in the state, according to an Illinois government news release. The new business grants are targeted to industries in Illinois “that have experienced particular and prolonged hardship throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the business grant website.

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Macoupin County state’s attorney sees mixed bag from end of cash bail – Center Square

Macoupin County is Illinois’ 30th largest county by population and the 11th largest in land mass. Burglary on farms and outbuildings, where valuable equipment and copper are stored, is a common crime. What Macoupin County is experiencing under the new system is a burdensome increase in paperwork and court appearances, State’s Attorney Jordan Garrison said. There is also the challenge of keeping track of the accused who are out on bail pretrial.

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Editorial: Rumors of electric vehicles’ demise greatly exaggerated. Don’t let political attacks fool you. – Chicago Tribune*

“After several years chasing electric-vehicle companies with state incentives that he had to sweeten for lack of interest, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker finally got his big ribbon-cutting…Gotion, a manufacturer headquartered in China, is slated to begin production later this year, marking what Pritzker described in Chinese-esque lingo as a ‘leap forward’ for economic development in Illinois.”

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DeKalb expected to pass ordinance to regulate potential migrant bus arrivals – WBBM (Chicago)

“This ordinance is about punishing the bus companies that would allow something like that to happen,” Mayor Cohen Barnes said, noting an incident in Kankakee. “How in the world can you take a busload of people, people families and dump them like cargo along the side of the road? In my eyes, we need to go after them. We need to go after them with all the resources that we possibly have.”

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Column: You Want to Talk Election Integrity? Illinois Just Looked Under a Rock and Found 46,000 People – Texas Insider

“You wouldn’t think a state would want to boast about these high numbers of indigents and criminals – but Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is celebrating that this recount will bring tens of millions more in Federal Welfare dollars to his state. None of this changes the sad reality of Illinois: the state is rapidly losing its most productive citizens – no matter what Census bean counters say.”

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Editorial: U.S. Supreme Court should keep our sorry state in mind as it considers public corruption case – Chicago Tribune*

“The Snyder case is interesting because the facts demonstrate about as clearly as possible the presence of corruption without an explicitly stated underhanded bargain. Most observers, we believe, would look at those facts and conclude that, yes, that kind of behavior is corrupt and should be illegal. Likewise, in the ComEd Four case, most reviewing the evidence would view as blatantly corrupt the sometimes-frantic steps (Anne) Pramaggiore and company lobbyists took over many years to keep in (Mike) Madigan’s good graces as he helped push through state legislation that meant billions for ComEd and its parent, Exelon.”

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Newspapers, broadcast news outlets would get live access to scrambled police radio traffic under proposed Illinois law – CWB Chicago

“I understand the desire to prevent members of the public from using real-time police scanner information to commit crimes or to evade law enforcement,” state Rep. LaShawn Ford said. “Blocking accredited media from real time access is counter to governmental transparency and does not lend itself to the original stated purpose of the encryption program.”

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Illinois gun groups report confusion, ‘civil disobedience’ after deadline passes to register ‘assault’ weapons – FOX News

Jan. 1 marked the deadline for Illinoisans to register their assault weapons with the state before the ban signed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker takes effect Jan. 10. However, of the over 2.4 million Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) cardholders, there have only been 112,350 disclosures filed as of Dec. 31, 2023, according to state police data. Another 29,357 disclosures were in the process of being completed.

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Dems Look To Cash In On Border Crisis – AMAC

The “investment” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson wants “isn’t funding to close the border, restart border wall construction, or reinstate Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy – instead he wants $15 billion in cold, hard cash deposited in the bank accounts of Democrat-run cities.”

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‘Lack of action’: Congressman Garcia spotlights cracks in U.S. immigration system – WGNTV (Chicago)

Congressman Chuy Garcia said the surge of migrants touched all parts of Chicagoland over the holidays. “It’s our lack of action on immigration reform,” he said. “It’s been 36 years since we passed the last bill that helped legalize three million people nationally. Since then, our immigration system has just gotten even more worse and more broken than ever.”

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Pritzker family under fire as members are key players in Harvard, Epstein scandals – New York Post

Sarah Parshall Perry, an attorney and senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said the Pritzker family is rapidly becoming “radioactive” and has a history of scandal. “This is a hard-left leaning political family entirely funded by the Hyatt Hotel empire who say they want to fight what they call right-wing extremism when, in fact, they are the extremists.”

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Illinois lawmakers stress school safety as top priority following Iowa school shooting – WAND (Decatur)

A law that took effect Monday requires school emergency and crisis response plans to include procedures for law enforcement to quickly enter buildings during emergencies. Lawmakers could pass a separate plan this spring to help schools provide crisis response mapping data to local, county, state and federal first responders; it would require the Illinois State Board of Education to provide grants to public schools to cover the costs to obtain crisis mapping data.

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Editorial: New child-protection chief will have her hands full – Champaign News-Gazette

“(Gov. JB) Pritzker praised her work as ‘transformative for the juvenile justice system in Illinois.’ But that doesn’t change the fact that DCFS is a dysfunctional bureaucracy staffed by too many marginal employees assigned to do an impossible job…Beset by litigation, beleaguered by heavy caseloads and badgered by demands to fix the often unfixable, DCFS is a microcosm of social and bureaucratic failure.”

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Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy challenged in Illinois for 2024 elections – Chicago Sun-Times

Five voters formally objected to former President Donald Trump’s newly-filed state nominating petitions Thursday on grounds that he helped engineer the fatal mob attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021, adding Illinois to the national debate about Trump’s legal status as a presidential candidate. The state election board has openly questioned its authority to invoke the constitutional insurrection clause as a basis to sack a presidential candidate, suggesting the dispute is one that Illinois’ courts or its legislature needs to resolve.

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Pritzker family under fire as members are key players in Harvard, Epstein scandals – New York Post

Until recently, the most controversial members of Chicago’s ultra-rich and powerful Pritzker family were the billionaire Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker — a longtime Democratic activist and bail reform advocate — and his billionaire transgender cousin Jennifer, who’s funneled millions into universities, medical schools, gender clinics and nonprofits in support of “gender-affirming” medical care.

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State report finds ‘robust supply’ of educators in Illinois – Center Square

The state’s 2023​​ Educator Supply and Demand Report found that the global pandemic didn’t hamper the education workforce in Illinois. “The primary finding from this report is that the educator workforce in Illinois weathered the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the report. “Teacher retention remains strong, and the average starting salary for educators is increasing.”

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New numbers show Illinois small businesses earned less than last year – Center Square

Noah Finley, Illinois state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said many owners are not optimistic about the upcoming year. “A net negative of 42% expect better conditions in the next six months. That’s a deficient number right there…On the regulatory side, they are facing several new mandates at the federal and state levels. Here at the state level, we have the paid leave mandate that went into effect on Jan. 1, which will disproportionately impact small businesses.”

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Column: Report calls for federal guidance to avoid municipal fiscal crisis – Northwest Herald*

“At the risk of getting lost in government lexicon, and making sure not to praise bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake, the report sheds light on concerns about how increased remote work influences the value of commercial properties as well as how state-by-state variations in rules dictating municipal financing complicate the ability to craft broad solutions…But any Illinois community with a central business district, even just a few blocks, has a stake in what happens in Springfield with regard to funding mechanisms and local control.”

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Illinois Won’t Enforce Law Targeting Misleading Anti-Abortion Centers, But People Can Still Report Fraud – Block Club Chicago

Gov. JB Pritzker signed SB1909 in July, but an anti-abortion group immediately challenged the law and sued Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to block it. Raoul agreed not to enforce SB1909 as part of a settlement in the lawsuit in December. Even without the law, the attorney general can investigate reports of fraudulent experiences at crisis pregnancy centers under the state’s existing consumer protection laws, Raoul’s office said in a statement.

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Legal group: Illinois’ strict biometric policies will resonate for years to come – Center Square

“Right now, 15 BIPA class-actions are getting filed everyday because it’s kind of the wild, wild west and potentially it can crush these employers or these companies and right now they are kind of exploiting the system,” said attorney Jerry Maatman, chair of the Duane Morris Class Action Defense Team. At least 15 states are considering modeling their future biometric privacy laws from the Illinois statute.

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Harvard agitators turn their ire toward Penny Pritzker – Politico

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="Image aligncenter" title="Then-U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker speaks during a news conference in the Commission Berlaymont building in Brussels, Belgium on July 12, 2016. The Biden administration has tapped former Commerce Secretary and major Democratic donor Penny Pritzker to coordinate U.S. efforts to channel private sector reconstruction assistance to Ukraine. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)" src="https://www.politico.com/dims4/default/a47c5a3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1826+0+0/resize/630x383!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2Ffe%2Fd1%2F4de754fe402db36aebd2114c9a31%2Fap23257622967917.jpg" srcset="https://www.politico.com/dims4/default/a47c5a3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1826+0+0/resize/630x383!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2Ffe%2Fd1%2F4de754fe402db36aebd2114c9a31%2Fap23257622967917.jpg 1x, https://www.politico.com/dims4/default/205f257/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x1826+0+0/resize/1260x766!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2Ffe%2Fd1%2F4de754fe402db36aebd2114c9a31%2Fap23257622967917.jpg 2x" alt="Then-U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker speaks during a news conference in the Commission Berlaymont building in Brussels, Belgium on July 12, 2016. The Biden administration has tapped former Commerce Secretary and major Democratic donor Penny Pritzker

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Ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan’s racketeering trial postponed 6 months pending Supreme Court decision in bribery case; ‘Better to do it right than to do it twice,’ judge says – Chicago Tribune/MSN

At issue Wednesday was whether the April 1 trial date should stand in light of the Supreme Court’s decision last month to take up the petition of James Snyder, the former mayor of Portage, Indiana, convicted of taking bribes from a trucking company that had won contracts to supply garbage trucks to the town. A decision from the high court overturning that conviction could resolve a split among federal circuits over whether “rewards and gratuities” given to a public official constitute bribes, even in the absence of a distinct quid pro quo.

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Pritzker announces Census updating Illinois’ count by 46,400 people – Center Square

Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said the update doesn’t change the trend that Illinois is losing people to other states. “Call it stagnation if you want. While everybody else is growing, we’re stagnating,” Dabrowski said, noting states like Texas and Florida are growing by millions. “If we don’t solve that problem, we’ll continue to hemorrhage tax base, we’ll continue to be uncompetitive and watch out.”

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Governor names new DCFS director – Capitol News IL

Department of Juvenile Justice Director Heidi Mueller will take over the embattled Department of Children and Family Services starting Feb. 1. Last month, DCFS and its watchdog released two reports detailing failures of the agency to properly place children in appropriate settings and how failures to follow the law and the department’s own policies compromised child safety.

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Bill Ackman calls for Harvard board led by Gov. JB Pritzker’s sister, Penny Pritzker, to resign after ‘disaster’ President Claudine Gay: ‘Replacing her is not enough’ – Daily Mail

‘The Corporation board led by Penny Pritzker selected the wrong president and did inadequate due diligence about her academic record despite Gay being in leadership roles at the University since 2015 when she became dean of the Social Studies department,” said Ackerman, a donor who received his MBA from Harvard in 1992 and now runs the hedge fund Pershing Square. “When the Board finally publicly acknowledged some of Gay’s plagiarism, it characterized the plagiarism as ‘unintentional’ and invented new euphemisms, i.e., ‘duplicative language’ to describe plagiarism, a belittling of academic integrity that has caused grave damage to Harvard’s academic standards

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Column: Higher property tax bills are on the horizon in new year – Lake County News-Sun

“Illinois government tax increases are outstripping inflation and wage growth, a situation high-growth states with lower taxes don’t have. Such as Texas, where asylum-seekers are fleeing, and Illinois companies fled to in 2023. The well-heeled can always leave for tax-friendly states. Many have, and others who can afford to are making plans to do so in 2024 as part of their New Year’s resolutions.”

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Several Illinois, Iowa cities are going to be counted again like it’s 2020 – ABC News

Eleven small cities in Illinois and Iowa are the only municipalities so far to have signed agreements with the U.S. Census Bureau for a second count of their residents in 2024 and 2025, in a repeat of what happened during the 2020 census. With one exception, city officials don’t think the numbers from the original count were inaccurate. It’s just that their populations have grown so fast in three years that officials believe they are leaving state funding for roads and other items on the table by not adding the extra growth to their population totals.

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What to know about the Illinois job market in 2024 – Bloomington Pantagraph

Compared with last November, total nonfarm payrolls were up 0.9% over the year in Illinois and 1.8% nationally. “The overall state of the labor market in Illinois is not meaningfully different than the country as a whole,” said Matthew Notowidigdo, a labor and health economist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. “In a sense, I think that that itself is kind of bad news, because of the fact that aggregate employment growth in Illinois is continuing to lag the rest of the country.”

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Millions in local, state and federal tax dollars set for historic mill demolition – Center Square

TCS - The former Pillsbury Mill in SpringfieldThe 100-year-old Pillsbury Mill flour and grain plant in Springfield has been abandoned and deteriorating for 20 years. “The cleanup project is intimidating, daunting and expensive but MPF is determined to rid Springfield of what has become a symbol of decay and hopelessness. It is unacceptable to have it at the center of the community,” said said Chris Richmond, of the non-profit Moving Pillsbury Forward.

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Illinois Congressman Jonathan Jackson on Biden, Gaza and making his famous father proud – The Guardian

Two Black men, heads bowed, stand beside one another in suits on what appears to be a darkened stage where they are in the spotlight, with the elder speaking into a microphone he holds in one hand.Next month Jackson will turn 58 and mark his first year representing Illinois’s first congressional district in the House of Representatives. He describes serving in Congress as a “tremendous honour” that often yields “awe and wonderment”. But some days, he chuckles, “it feels like a bad high school that you’ve transferred into” and on others

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Illinois’ scholarship tax credit program comes to an end – Mendota Reporter

Hera Varmah, tax scholarship expert with the American Federation for Children, envisions some Illinois families moving out of state in search of school choice. “I have a feeling that is going to happen because once you give a family the choice of where they send their child then it’s taken away, they’re not going to be OK with the status quo of sending their child to this public school that is not serving them well,” said Varmah.

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State Rep. Ryan Spain wants to ban ex-Speaker Michael Madigan’s portrait from the Capitol – Chicago Sun-Times

“With indictments delivered for former Speaker Madigan and a trial underway coming up this spring, I thought it was very important that we say no portrait of Speaker Madigan should be hung in the House of Representatives until such time that he may be acquitted,” said Spain, the resolution’s sponsor. Throughout the Illinois House, there are oil paintings of six past speakers, dating back to the mid-1960s and including Republican George Ryan, who went on to serve time in federal prison after leaving the governor’s office 20 years ago.

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The Welfare-Industrial Complex Is Booming – The Wall Street Journal

Drill into the nation’s 3.7% unemployment rate, and you’ll find a growing welfare-industrial complex beneath the seemingly strong labor market. Government, social assistance and healthcare account for 56% of the 2.8 million net new jobs over the past year, and for nearly all gains in blue states such as New York and Illinois.

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Paul Vallas: With the start of the new year, here is a sobering look at the state of Illinois – Chicago Tribune*

“Illinois may have moved beyond the divisive and chaotic Rauner years, but it is a state in deep crisis…Illinois state and local government retirement shortfalls grew to a record $530 billion in 2020, the conservative advocacy group Wirepoints reported, citing data from Moody’s Investors Service. That translates to an average burden of about $110,000 in pension and retiree health debt for every household in Illinois.”

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Illinois’ new nuclear bill goes dark before it can spark – Illinois Policy

The new legislation keeps the door shut on building traditional nuclear power plants. It ends the moratorium only for one specific kind of reactor called a small modular reactor. The small units are not designed for the public electrical grid. They are built to be used only by specific sites, such as factories or quarries. More importantly, small modular reactors don’t exist yet.

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Illinois farmers concerned about effects of California’s new animal welfare law – Center Square

The Illinois Pork Producers Association estimates it will cost $3,500 per sow to upgrade infrastructure to become Prop 12 compliant, a cost they warn would be passed onto the consumer. “One area is dictating how farmers produce the products that they raise in another part of the country and that can cause a lot of concern over a patchwork of different regulations that our farmers have to adhere to,” said Tasha Bunting of the Illinois Farm Bureau.

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Big money, big problems. Deep-pocketed, self-funding candidates and dark money mar Illinois politics – Chicago Sun-Times

“It’s not always about what’s best for voters and their own political beliefs and values. It’s about winning. And to the power players and their camps, it’s ‘just politics.’ In the Land of Lincoln and across the country, money is power, and some candidates are using every legal loophole they can find to win, especially in light of a 2010 Supreme Court decision that allowed individuals and corporations to funnel unlimited funds to super PACs.”

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Gov. Pritzker Celebrates 2023 Executive and Legislative Achievements – WMCI (Mattoon)

“Since day one of my administration, my priority has been making Illinois the best state in the nation for families,” said Gov. JB Pritzker. “That includes transformative education investments that will support Illinoisans from cradle to career, along with greater economic opportunities rooted in equity that give every individual the tools to succeed. My administration’s executive and legislative accomplishments this year build on four years of fiscally responsible leadership that have resulted in nine credit upgrades and a bright future for our state.”

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New law requires new homes and residential buildings to power electric vehicles – Loop North News

“…(F)or developers of multi-unit condo and apartment towers, the costs could go into tens of thousands of dollars, upping per-square-foot construction costs, sale prices, and rents. The law also requires landlords to install an electric vehicle charging station into a new residential building upon a tenant’s request. However, landlords are allowed to charge a security deposit to cover the costs of restoring the property to its original condition once a tenant moves out.”

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With deadline looming, is public pension funding heading in the right direction? – Daily Herald*

“They’ve used financial successes over the past couple years to make really smart financial decisions, including supplemental pension payments and paying down debt,” said Mary Wagoner, director of state and local finance with the Civic Committee, a research branch of the Commercial Club of Chicago. “But the job still isn’t done though, with pensions specifically.” Despite the additional funding, financial records from nine Illinois public pension programs show only moderate increases to funding levels over the past decade.

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Right Wing Fake Newspapers Push Propaganda, Disregard Truth – Center for Illinois Politics

A string of local papers published by Local Government Information Services, which has ties to Dan Proft, have no regular publishing schedule but turn up as election time nears. “The accelerating loss of legacy local news outlets combined with the growth of faux local news operations is creating a perfect storm of misinformation and disinformation in many communities,” Tim Franklin, senior associate dean of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism said.

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Illinois became the first state to eliminate cash bail. Here’s how it’s working. – Chicago Sun-Times

Macoupin County State’s Attorney Jordan Garrison heads an office of just four staffers. His team, plus two people appointed by the state, are in charge of monitoring people released pretrial, which he said has been at least 20 people per month since cash bail was eliminated. “It’s a significant burden to try to track that many people, especially in a rural community that doesn’t have much resources,” Garrison said. “Eventually, we will have to hire more staff. Unfortunately, that’s just not available.”

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Latest gun ban lawsuit seeks to allow certain gun owners to register – Center Square

The Will County lawsuit from Ian Reece against the state filed Thursday said during a six-day injunction period, Reece purchased a firearm covered by the gun ban. It also said he would register the firearm as lawfully possessed, but there is no mechanism with the registry to do so and no rules have been adopted to allow such registration. “So the only choice is to sell them or move them out of state,” Pearson said.

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Opinion: Passivity, Timidity Render Ill. Education Disarrayed – Newsmax

“In a state that desperately needs educational choices to empower the next generation, a silent veto became the loudest message of all: when it comes to educational freedom in Illinois, inaction speaks louder than words. The Invest in Kids Act, until last month, stood as a beacon of opportunity for underprivileged students.”

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Mendoza’s Top Ten – WTAX (Springfield)

Illinois comptroller Susana Mendoza is out with a top ten list of her office’s accomplishments in 2023. They include: forced back wages paid under Prevailing Wage Act; legislation passes committee for regular payments into Rainy Day Fund and Pension Stabilization Fund; and paid off all covid unemployment insurance loans.

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Illinois Department of Children and Family Services struggles to fix decades of systemic issues – WBEZ (Chicago)

DCFS falls below the national average in five of the six categories the department is required to track. The agency lays much of the blame for the shortcomings on its budget, saying it has struggled for years to recover what was lost during the state’s budget impasse. But lawmakers have approved budgets in each of the past five years that have increased DCFS’s funding. The budget approved for this year is nearly double what it was five years ago — from $1.18 billion in fiscal year 2019 to just over $2 billion for fiscal year 2024.

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Odds for more sports betting expansion could fade after rapid growth to 38 states – Chicago Sun-Times

Data suggests Missourians – where sports wagering is still illegal – are interested in sports betting. From mid-June to mid-December, the technology firm GeoComply Solutions processed over 13.5 million location checks from 280,000 devices located in Missouri attempting to access mobile sports betting sites. About 48% were trying to use sportsbooks in Kansas, and 40% in Illinois. They were blocked from doing so. GeoComply also processed 42,000 location checks from 1,900 online sports betting accounts that traveled from Missouri to an Illinois border town in the past six months.

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Anti-China push in U.S. Midwest a symptom of Biden’s dilemma – South China Morning Post

In the small town of Manteno, Illinois, the opposition to a Gotion plant there has been even fiercer and partisan. Local Republican state representatives have accused the Biden administration, the state leadership of Gov. JB Pritzker and China’s Communist Party of working together to build a plant that they say would cost taxpayers millions. National Counterintelligence and Security Centre director Mike Casey, whose agency coordinates with the U.S. private sector over security threats, said companies should think twice before installing Chinese batteries.

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In ‘non-sanctuary’ Grundy County, signs along I-55 warned migrant buses to keep driving – Chicago Tribune/MSN

Rush hour traffic is seen on I-55 at Western Avenue on July 19, 2023.The two digital signs, placed near two northbound exits along Interstate 55 — one by Dwight and the other by Gardner — read: “NO MIGRANT BUSES THIS EXIT.” They went up Saturday in response to reports of buses dropping migrants in other communities surrounding Chicago, said Grundy County Sheriff Ken Briley. The county’s emergency migrant plan came on the heels of a

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Illinois’ pension debt on the rise – Center Square

A new Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability report finds that the state’s mounting pension liabilities spiked by nearly $3 billion over a 12-month window. Much of the rising cost COGFA attributed to the increase was because of “larger than expected salary increases” for state employees. Researchers added that unfunded costs for the five pension systems overseen by the state now stand at nearly their highest level in well over a decade.

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Chicago Teachers Union tried to kill bill to help students earn early college credit – Illinois Policy

In the (U.S. Department of Education)’s terms, dual enrollment is ‘one of many terms used to describe a program that allows high school students to take a college course and earn both high school and college credit.’ In Chicago political terms, dual enrollment is apparently a threat to the Chicago Teachers Union’s monopoly over education. The union tried to limit it.”

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Column: Another political power broker hits skids in federal court – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “(Former Ald. Ed) Burke, who’ll be 80 on Friday, was to the city of Chicago what former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was to the state of Illinois — the big dog who ran things from behind the scenes and considered himself too smart to get caught breaking the law. Burke’s conviction and Madigan’s indictment are landmark events in the political history of Illinois. But what do their legal problems really show in a state where there’s so much cross-pollination between the political and criminal classes?”

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State Deploys Additional Resources to Support Migrants – Southland Journal

Funding for the hotels will come from the additional $160 million Governor Pritzker announced in November to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis. These investments build on $478 million in State funding that has been provided or committed to the asylum seeker response over Fiscal Years 2023 and 2024. This includes direct funding to the City of Chicago and other municipalities assisting asylum seekers as well as substantial State funding for shelter, food, medical care, rental assistance, and wraparound casework and services.

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The ‘Great Sort’ draws transplants pushing Florida to the right, experts say – Orlando Sentinel

“The notion of the ‘Big Sort’ … is really proving itself,” said Matt Isbell, a Democratic elections analyst. “That’s the idea that people move based on the politics. … For a lot of retirees, places like Florida are appealing, especially if they’re already conservative.” According to Census estimates, New York lost nearly 217,000 people to domestic migration from July 2022 to July 2023 and nearly 882,000 since April 2020. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan also lost thousands of residents in that time.

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New state laws: winners and losers – Champaign News-Gazette

Losers include “heartless hospitals,” which under HB 3955 may not delay medical care and screening in order to inquire about a patient’s method of payment or insurance status. And under HB 2719, hospitals must screen patients for public financial-assistance eligibility before turning them over to collections.

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With pandemic aid expiring and most funds already spent, schools across Illinois face a financial cliff – Chicago Tribune/MSN

A student plays on the sensory path at Gwendolyn Brooks Elementary in DeKalb on Dec. 14.In many cases, tough choices involving labor costs lie ahead, said school finance expert Marguerite Roza. “Some districts gave out big pay raises that they’re going to have trouble affording when the money disappears. They may have hired people and they’re always reluctant to do layoffs,” she said. “Ultimately, something’s got to give.”

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Which 2028 Presidential Wannabe Had the Best Year? – Politico

“Another big blue state governor with a newly minted national political action committee is Illinois’ JB Pritzker. Think Big America, which appears to be solely funded by the billionaire governor, is designed to help Pritzker position himself as an effective advocate for abortion rights following the fall of Roe v. Wade.”

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U.S. Rep. Davis joins in introducing bill that helps pay rent – Chicago Crusader

The Rent Relief Act of 2023 creates a new tax credit for renters and would cover a percentage of the difference between 30 percent of their adjusted gross income and the actual cost of rent and utilities, capping the benefit at 100 percent of Small Area Fair Market Rent. “Direct grant assistance and affordable housing are essential but only help a limited number of households,” said Davis.

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New laws for Illinois prisoners set to go into effect starting Jan. 1 – Center Square

Senate Bill 2073 allows those sentenced to life in prison while under the age of 21 to become eligible for parole review. Another law has to do with the resentencing of prisoners, according to Jenny Vollen Katz of the John Howard Association: “One is around the earned program sentencing credits and that they are going to apply retroactively. I know there is still conversation on how they will implement that law.”

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Effect of police and fire pension consolidations on property taxes remains uncertain – Chicago Tribune/MSN

The promise of tax relief was an essential part of Gov. JB Pritzker’s sales pitch for the consolidation, and the pension change has been one of the governor’s go-to responses when pressed on what his administration is doing to address high property taxes. But Amanda Kass, a public finance and pensions expert at DePaul University, explained, “Potentially, you could have a situation where taxpayers don’t see true property tax relief, but their property taxes aren’t as high as they would have been had there not been consolidation.” That scenario is unlikely to appease residents in a state with some of

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Prohibition on book bans, right to sue for ‘deepfake porn’ among new laws taking effect Jan. 1 – Capitol News IL

Starting in 2024, people who are falsely depicted in sexually explicit images or videos will be able to sue the creator of that material. The law is an amendment to the state’s existing protections for victims of “revenge porn,” which went into effect in 2015. Some sponsors of the legislation, notably chief sponsor Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, have indicated interest in further regulating the use of artificial intelligence.

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Manhattan, IL, Mayor Restricts Migrant Drop-Offs In Town – Patch Manhattan

The day after a bus carrying Texas migrants attempted to drop passengers at Manhattan’s Metra station, Manhattan Mayor Mike Adrieansen signed an executive order imposing restrictions, fines and other punishment for buses dropping off migrants illegally, and a declaration of emergency aimed at preventing future instances. “Our goal is to protect our residents’ health and safety, and also those who are on these buses,” he said.

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Decaying Pillsbury mill in Illinois that once churned flour into opportunity is now getting new life – A.P.

 

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="Image flickity-lazyloaded aligncenter" src="https://dims.apnews.com/dims4/default/7504a4a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3823x2627+0+0/resize/599x412!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F3f%2F96%2F350512a9349708a0bfe681dcc433%2F170eb3c985fb41a68c22e51169fc7eb6" alt="Holiday lights blaze from the headhouse of the former Pillsbury Mills in Springfield, Ill., on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. While awaiting funding and authority to demolish the factory and redevelop the site, the nonprofit Moving Pillsbury Forward has ginned up interest in the history and future of the plant, including installing the lights. Chris Richmond, president of Moving Pillsbury Forward, said the lights “bring an energy to the site that has not been there for years. (They) bring with them a message that something positive is happening.” The mill operated under Minneapolis-based Pillsbury

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New state law guarantees community college students admission to Illinois public universities – WICS (Springfield)

Every four-year public college in Illinois now guarantees general admission for in-state community college students with a 3.0 GPA and 36 credit hours. For the University of Illinois System, the law was already in place this year. Vickie Cook of the University of Illinois Springfield said “We think that this has helped students in Illinois consider Illinois colleges. We want students to stay in Illinois. We want them to stay in their communities and complete those four-year degrees.”

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Opioid settlement money could make a difference in Jackson County drug court – The Southern Illinoisan

The opioid settlement marks the culmination of three years of negotiations to resolve more than 4,000 claims for state and local governments across the county, and Illinois will receive its full, approximate $760 million share from the settlement. Jackson county’s allotment for the upcoming year is $150,000, and Judge Steven Bost requested $25,000 for the drug court.

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‘The big challenge comes for us next year:’ Quad-Cities private schools react to end of Illinois tax credit – Quad City Times

“We’re just so disappointed in our legislators,” said Dr. Susan Miller, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Peoria. “The reality is that a majority of the public supported Invest in Kids. So it’s hard for me to understand how our legislators looked at that data and still chose to (sunset).” This school year, 605 students across the Diocese of Peoria had scholarships which received funds through Invest in Kids — and more than 780 are waitlisted for the program.

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Illinois Residents Sue to Keep Out EV Battery Company with CCP Ties – The Epoch Times

“Li Zhen, the company’s founder and chairman, is a member of the Anhui Provincial Federation of Industry and Commerce, which is part of the CCP’s United Front system and takes direction from the CCP. His son, Li Chen, who is also Guoxuan’s CEO, is a member of the Baohe District Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee, which is an advisory body of the CCP,” Senator Marco Rubio and other lawmakers earlier wrote.

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Illinois Manufacturers Say Rail Pause in Texas Caused Harm During Busy Holiday Season – WTTW (Chicago)

“When you have these 10,000 rail cars that are idled, some of those were going to come to Illinois,” Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President Mark Denzler said. “You had truck drivers scheduled to have been there Monday to pick up a load. It rippled down — from the railroads to the truck drivers to ultimately the consumers who don’t see a product at their stores right before the holidays.”

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John Kass: O Holy Night

“For all the cops of these broken cities who can’t bear what such brutal politics have brought and internalize it and poison themselves and seek an exit. Please don’t. Please don’t go. Reach out, ask for help. There are priests to talk to, your colleagues. Remember that help is out there, and you are loved. And remember, the people need you and rely on you to protect them.”

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Making Sense of New Paid Leave Obligations in Illinois – JD Supra

“Although the Illinois Department of Labor has issued some Frequently Asked Questions to assist employers in complying with the Illinois Act, the guidance is still evolving, and the IDOL’s proposed regulations won’t be finalized until at least March 2024, more than two months after employers must start complying.”

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The Great Blue to Red State Migration Continues – Wall Street Journal

“Eight states saw population declines, with the biggest in New York (-101,984), California (-75,423) and Illinois (-32,826). They can blame population flight…. You don’t need artificial intelligence to spot what these states have in common: High taxes, burdensome business regulation and inflated energy and housing prices.”

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Cook County judge says bankruptcy doesn’t mean man gets out of jail without paying divorce lawyers – Cook County Record

Calling it a “Christmas present,” a Cook County family court judge said she would allow a River Forest businessman out of jail for the holidays – if he can come up with $300,000 in cash, and agree to be on electronic home monitoring, until he manages to pay $200,000 more to satisfy the judge’s prior orders to begin paying off $1.6 million in legal bills racked up by him and his ex-wife during a long, contentious divorce proceeding.

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How Congressional Maps Could Change in 2030 – Brennan Center for Justice

New population estimates released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau suggest that the shifts in political power after the 2030 census could be among the most profound in the nation’s history. If these trends continue for the balance of the decade, California would lose 4 of its 52 congressional districts in reapportionment, New York, meanwhile, would lose three seats, Illinois two, and Pennsylvania one, leaving all three states with congressional delegations half the size they were in 1940.

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Editorial: Is Illinois losing population? The question misses the point. – Chicago Tribune*

“The hard truth is that Illinois isn’t growing and thus is losing ground — in financial and political terms…How about leaving the partisanship and ideologies at the door and trying to develop a broader understanding of the problem? Reversing our population stagnation won’t happen without some sort of collective, bipartisan acknowledgment of the causes.”

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Small business owners must offer retirement benefits as 2018 state law finishes rollout – WEEK (Peoria)

A state law passed in 2018 required all private employers to offer retirement benefits to their workers by November 2023. They essentially have limited options. Business owners can enroll in their own retirement plans, use the state-sponsored Illinois Secure Choice, or face fines of $250 per employee per year for the first offense, and $500 per employee per year for subsequent offenses.

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Fake “final notice” mailings in Illinois gone thanks to new law – WICS (Springfield)

When someone buys a car or home in Illinois, “final notice” letters regarding warranties, protection plans and insurance are often mailed out by third parties to scam recipients into providing information or buying products under the guise of maintaining their home or vehicle. Under Senate Bill 1440, the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act will be amended to require that senders clearly state that their mailing is not a bill but rather a solicitation of services.

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Column: Abolishing elected offices: Common sense or a fast one? – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “The issue of eliminating county elected offices pops up from time to time, as public officials and government watchers look for better and more efficient ways to conduct public business. So far, only the recorder’s office has been eliminated in Champaign County. Folded into the county clerk’s office, it’s still overseen by an elected official.”

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Like Illinois, New York to Consider Reparations for Descendants of Enslaved People – New York Times

“New York joins California and Illinois at the forefront of reparations efforts, a complicated endeavor that will immerse stakeholders in a contentious political and budgetary conversation about the past and its dictates for the future…The work of Illinois’s reparations commission is continuing, with public meetings scheduled into the new year.”

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Supreme Court will hear challenge to EPA rule limiting downwind power plant pollution in Illinois, nine other states – AP/MSN

The environmental agency said power-plant emissions dropped by 18% in 2023 in the 10 states where it has been allowed to enforce its “good neighbor” rule, an effort to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution. Those states are Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

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Illinois business groups warn of economic shockwave from closed border rail lines – Center Square

Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President Mark Denzler joined two other Illinois business groups and organizations from 16 other states asking the rail line at the southern U.S. border to be reopened. “For the flow of commerce, we need to make sure that these are open full time or at a minimum windows where the trains can roll through at certain times.”

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Bond Reform Has Reduced Jail Population, But State Data On Pretrial Detention Is 18 Months Late – Block Club Chicago

“Here in Winnebago County, our State’s Attorney was opposed to bond abolition. But now they are tasked with implementing it,” said said Rev. Violet Johnicker, a bond reform advocate with Rockford Urban Ministries.. “Who polices the courts? Whose job is it to make sure these things are implemented? Without that data, it really comes down to volunteer court observers…It is absolutely frustrating to not have a clear before-and-after picture.”

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Column: Many questions, few answers about Champaign County Board’s plans – Champaign News-Gazette

Jim Dey: “Can the county ask voters if they wish to abolish the auditor’s and coroner’s offices while at the same time asking them to choose Democratic and Republican nominees for election to those offices in November? State’s Attorney Julia Rietz said the answer, based on a 1972 opinion from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, is yes.”

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Oh, What A Year (For School Choice) – Forbes

“Policymakers in 40 states debated 111 educational choice bills—79 percent of which related to ESAs…For all of the progress in school choice this year, Illinois killing its scholarship tax credit program was a huge step backward. Billionaire governor JB Pritzker (who attended a private boarding school that costs $64,800 per year) cut off the scholarships for almost 10,000 low-income students.”

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Legislator says new laws not enough to fix Illinois’ troubled child welfare agency – Center Square

House Bill 3705 places children in suitable permanent family arrangements rather than in suitable adoptive homes, in cases where restoration to the biological family is not safe. House Bill 2861 states that DCFS shall prepare a written report for filing with the court and send copies of the report to all parties involved. Senate Bill 375 requires DCFS to develop and implement a safety-based child welfare intervention system. The laws come amid sustained criticism of the agency’s handling of children in its custody.

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Illinois continues population decline, losing 364K in 3 years – Center Square

For domestic migration, Illinois lost 83,839 people to other states in the past year, but with inbound migration, births and deaths, the state’s net loss was 32,826. Despite the annual estimated net loss in the hundreds of thousands of people over the past decade, some elected officials in the state deny the state is shrinking. “People who are down on Illinois are not looking at the right indicators of the future of our state. Our future is bright,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.

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The Southern Illinoisan was sold. Then the new owner eliminated its entire news staff – NPR Illinois

Editor-in-Chief Jackson Brandhorst said he still hopes that Paxton’s management makes good on promises to maintain news coverage of the region. “But,” he continued, “in terms of watchdog, ‘capital J’ journalism, that’s not a thing that at the moment exists here. And I would hope that the new owners and those responsible for the Southern will try to really lift this place up, really do some investigative journalism, watchdog reporting and accountability within the community.”

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Joe Biden’s Democrat rivals are even worse than him – UnHerd

“…(T)he other big Democrat pushing for the White House, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, arguably has an even worse record. Like California, his state has fallen behind on unemployment, performing well below its Midwestern neighbours. Due to excessive expenditures and weak incomes, Illinois now places 49th in US News fiscal rankings. “

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Editorial: No free ride for EV drivers – Daily Herald*

“Eventually, if the dreams of environmentally conscious planners and drivers come true, EVs will constitute a major portion if not almost the entire complement of vehicles on the road, and when that happens, the $100 a year they’re now paying for road construction and upkeep won’t be nearly enough.”

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‘Heartbreaking’ trial in Peoria highlights failures of Illinois DCFS – Peoria Journal Star

Plagued by a high vacancy rate of investigators, the Department of Children and Family Services has repeatedly come under sharp criticism for failing to intercede to protect children at risk. In this case, DCFS did not act to remove 8-year-old Navin Jones from his parents’ care. Navin weighed just 30 pounds before he died from severe malnutrition and abuse in 2022.

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Illinois law cuts funding for public libraries that ban certain books starting Jan. 1 – Center Square

The law will withhold state funding from libraries that remove books because of questionable material or personal disapproval. Public libraries must adopt the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights, which holds that “materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation,” or subscribe to a similar pledge.

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Election integrity groups threaten lawsuit against Illinois – Center Square

Judicial Watch, Illinois Family Action and an Illinois resident say the state must clear the rolls of inactive voters who have remained on the rolls in violation of the National Voter Registration Act. Judicial Watch estimates there may be as many as 800,000 inactive voters who should be removed. This is about 10% of the about 8.1 million registered voters in Illinois.

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